.. G,m 



'AN COT 



J LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. $ 



$ # 

| UNITED STATES ,OF AMERICA. } 

MS 





R^C&^OE MEWT@W VAP3 (DOTTF* 



The firstlady licensed to preach in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church m America. 






! 



•*•«»-• am? 

LIFE AND LABORS '^" »o; 



Mrs. Maggie Newton Van Cott, 



The first Lady Licensed to Preach in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in the United States, 



REV. JOHN O. FOSTER, 

OF THE ROCK RIVER CONFERENCE, ILLINOIS. 



hJ^- 






W\\\\ m f tttwutitrttoit, 



CO 






;to^ 



REV. GILBERT HAVEN, 

Editor^ of Ziofi's Herald, Boston, 

AND 

REV. DAVID SHERMAN. 



CINCINNATI : 
HITCHCOCK AND WALDEN, 

FOR THE AUTHOR. 

1872. 



[or co»o»* 8S 1 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, 

BY JOHN O. FOSTER, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Q 



DEDICATION. 



ffo all the fjotmg Converts, 



WHO HAVE FOUND THE SAVIOR, IN THE PARDON OF THEIR SINS, 

AND 

WHO ARE DETERMINED TO MEET ME IN HEAVEN, 

IS THIS WORK 

affectionately 3B«buatth. 

MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 




Preface. 




|RS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT 
had scarcely commenced her labors at 
Barrington, 111., before she was struck 
down with a fearful attack of erysipelas. For 
six weeks she bore her sufferings patiently, and, 
under the skillful medical treatment of W. M. 
Burbank, M. D., and the blessing of God, she 
was fully restored. 

While convalescent she communicated the 
facts herein narrated to the Author. 

We are much indebted to the Rev. J. B. Peat 
for valuable services rendered during the progress 
of the work. 

The artist, J. C. Buttre, of New York, has 
succeeded in producing a very correct steel 



VI PREFACE, 

engraving, from a photograph by A. E. Alden, 
of Springfield, Mass. 

We are confident that this little volume will be 
read by thousands who have listened to her min- 
istrations, and prized by hundreds who have been 
led to Christ through her efforts. 

THE AUTHOR. 




Contents. 



Introduction, by Gilbert Haven, xin 

Woman's Place in the Gospel, by Rev. D. Sherman, xxix 

CHAPTER I. 

PARENTAGE AND EARLY HOME. 

William K. Newton — Rachel Primrose — First Impressions of 
Methodism — Death of William P. Primrose — Influence of 
Mr. Newton — First Love — At School — Haunted House — 
Death of Willie — Home at Williamsburg — Desires to Attend 
the Methodist Church, .... pages i-io 



CHAPTER II. 

MARRIED. 

Peter P. Van Cott — Late Hours — Mother's Opposition — Prepa- 
rations for the Wedding — The Nuptials — Home at Mr. Van 
Cott's — The First-Born — Death of Little Rachel — Gloom in 
the Household — Birth of Sarah Ellen — Death of Mr. New- 
ton, 11-22 

CHAPTER III. 

NEW STRUGGLES IN LIFE. 

Work in Church — Singing — Colonel Conselyea — Mr. Van Cott 
in Poor Health — Plans for the Future — "Yankee Peddler" — 
Leaving Home — Mr. Seabury — First Sale of Drugs and 

VII 



via CONTENTS. 

Patent Medicines — Success — Next Trip — Staten Island — 
Long Island — Sewing-Machines — Manufacturing Patent Med- 
icines for Wholesale — Father-in-law Deranged — His Death — 
Home in New York City — Convictions of Duty to God — 
Happy Conversion, PAGES 23-55 

CHAPTER IV. 

EXULTANT JOY. 

Mr. Van Cott Better — Work in the Laboratory — Fulton- Street 
Prayer-Meeting — Prayer-Meetings — Attends Class-Meeting—- 
Shouting — Husband's Approval of Her Attending Class- 
Meetings — Home Readings for the Sick One, . 56-71 

CHAPTER V. 

DEEPENING SHADOWS. 

Sickness of Mrs. Van Cott — Mr. Van Cott Worse — Neglect of 
Business — Comfort of the Scriptures — Dream of the River 
of Death, and Interpretation by Mr. Van Cott — Calls of the 
Clergy— Efforts Made to Save the Dying Man— " Thy Will 
be Done" — Communion — The Last Hours — Triumphant- 
Death— The Funeral, 72-88 

CHAPTER VI. 

RESUMING BUSINESS. 

Confusion in the Store — Change of Location — Trip Abroad 
Among the Merchants — Whisky Trader " Living by Faith " — 
Places Visited — Lonely Walk Past a Graveyard — A Warm 
Welcome, 89-103 

CHAPTER VII. 

MISSION WORK. 

First Invitation Rejected — Protest of Kindred — Five Points Mis- 
sion — First Meeting a Failure — Second Effort a Success — 
Dislike to Speak Before Negroes — Trials in Refusing to do 
Her Duty — Victory in the Meeting of Colored People — Mrs. 



COA 7 T£A T 7S. IX 

Cuffy — Father Thompson — The Sailor's Speech— Watch- 
Night — Text Given About the " Wheels " in Ezekiel — Form- 
ing a Sunday-School — "Street Arabs" — "Lizzie" — Parting 
with Her Jewelry — Maria, . . , pages 104-134 

CHAPTER VIII. 

CLOUDS, TEMPTATIONS, AND SORROWS. 

Loss of Property — Edgar Bedell — Urging Him to Attend 
Church — His Resolution — Struck with Death — u It is Too 
Late" —The Heavy Blow — Alfred Battersby— The "Little 
Sister" — Trip to Greene County— Cornellsville — The Snap- 
pish Church-Member — Shouting — Rev. J. Battersby — The 
" Little Sister's " First Visit to New York — Mother-in-law 
Afflicted — Sufferings — Death, .... 135-148 

CHAPTER IX 

THE WIDENING FIELD. 

Second Visit to Greene County — Ride from Catskill — "You 
Must Preach" — A Dream — Crowded House — Hervey-Street 
Baptist Church — In the Pulpit — Six Weeks in a Revival — 
Plunter Village — "That are Woman" — Windham Center — 
Rev. A. C. Morehouse — Return to New York, . 149-164 

CHAPTER X. 

REVIVAL INCIDENTS. 

The Penitent — Bonds of Satan — Colonel R. — " Was You Ever 
an Actress " — Mr. Bloodgood — Lady who Hated Her Sis- 
ter-in-law — Dying Man — First Funeral Sermon — Five 
Weeks' Labors — Prayer-Meeting in a Hotel — " The Devilish 
Woman," 165-1S3 

CHAPTER XL 

GIVING UP BUSINESS — WHOLLY IN THE WORK. 

Closing up Business — Testimonials — Cairo, Greene County, New 
York — The Sleepy Pastor — The Young Ladies' Meeting — The 



X CONTENTS. 

Men's Meeting — "Remember You're a Woman" — Happy 
Result of the Meetings, .... pages 184-192 

CHAPTER XII. 

NEW DIFFICULTIES. 

Nine Weeks at Cairo, Greene County, New York — Grove 
Meetings — Legal Rights — Petition to the Presiding Elder — 
Checkmated — Mr. Ransom — $2,800 Lost — Sunday-School 
Anniversary at Leeds — Short of Means — No Breakfast — Ride 
in the Rain and Mud — At the Home of a Friend — Roast Tur- 
key — Prattsville — Rich Old Gentleman wants to Engrave Her 
Name on the Rocks — Boys Saying the Lord's Prayer — Extort- 
er's License — Severe Mental Struggle — Brother Palmer — Two 
Hundred Souls Asked For — Two Hundred and Thirty-Five 
Given, 193-212 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE GOOD WORK SPREADING. 

A Young Man in Agony — His Conversion — Scores Converted — 
Joining the Sons of Temperance — At Madeline, Dutchess 
County, New York — Stone Ridge, Ulster County — Before 
the Official Board — Disciplinary Questions — Given Local 
Preacher's License— First Year's Work — At Paterson, 
New Jersey — Rev. Dimmick — " Snubbed " — Political Strife — 
Delivers a Fourth of July Oration — Fireworks — Rev. W. H. 
Dickinson — Will God Hear the Prayers of the Two Actresses 
Converted? 213-229 

CHAPTER XIV. 

IN NEW ENGLAND. 

At Chicopee Falls — Springfield, Mass. — Chelsea — The " Wick- 
edest Man " in the Place — Letters of William Henry Jones — 
Ten Weeks at Chelsea — Four Hundred Converted — At Wil- 
braham, Mass. — Seventy- Five at the Altar the Third Night — 
Zeal of the Faculty — Again at Springfield — Experience of 
De Forest B. Dodore — Clarence Smith Drowned — Windsor 



CONTENTS. XI 

Locks — Eight Weeks at Shelburne Falls — The " Bully Euchre 
Player" Converted — J. H. Wilder's Conversion — The Praying 
Band — Greenfield — Webster — Seventy Devils Cast Out of a 
Young Man — Again at Windsor Locks — Conversion of John 
Anderson — At North Manchester — Rev. G. W. Fuller — Mer- 
iden, Conn. — Rev. John Pegg — A Swede Converted — Happy 
Coincidence, pages 230-266 

CHAPTER XV. 

VICTORIES IN THE WEST. 

Leaving the Home of Her Childhood — Chicago — Rev. W. 
H. Daniels — At Fond du Lac, Wisconsin — Rev. W. H. 
Window — Cotton-Street Church — Work Begun — " Religion 
Takes All the Swear Out of a Fellow" — Conversion of an 
Editor — Many Incidents — Summary of the Year's Labor — 
At Oshkosh — Rev. W. P. Stowe — Incidents — Letter Re- 
ceived — Eastward Again — One Night at Fond du Lac — 
Reception — At Clark-Street Church, Chicago — Remarks of 
the Tribune, ' . 267-284 

CHAPTER XVI. 

IN THE PULPIT. 

Sketches of Two Sermons — 1. Hebrews x, 23 : " Let us hold 
fast the profession of our faith ;" 2. Isaiah lv, 6, 7 : " Seek ye 
the Lord while he may be found," etc, . . 285-303 

CHAPTER XVII. 

SHALL WOMEN PREACH? 

Historic Sketch — Testimony in Favor — Dr. Clarke's Opinion — 
Dr. Priestly — Review of First Corinthians — New Testament 
Authorities — Dr. Whedon — Dr. Mosheim — Dr. Lange — 
Facts — No Barrier when Correctly Viewed, . 304-315 



xii CONTENTS. 



APPENDIX, 



REMARKS OF THE PRESS. 

What They Say About Mrs. Van Cott — Daily Guardian — 
Christian Advocate — Times — -Tribune — Poughkeepsie Daily 
Eagle— The Methodist — The World — The Independent — 
Harper's Bazar — Daily Union, Springfield — Boston Trav- 
eler — Springfield Republican — Herald, Boston — New York 
Sunday Times — Heathen Woman's Friend — Zion's Herald — 
Greenfield Gazette — Meriden Daily Republican — Fond du 
Lac Commonwealth — Chicago Evening Journal — North- 
western Advocate — London Watchman — Methodist Home 
Journal, Philadelphia — Boston Chronicle, . page 317 




Introduction 



BY GILBERT HAVEN, 

EDITOR OF ZION'S HERALD, BOSTON, MASS. 




volume. 



j>Y first knowledge of Rev. Mrs. Van Cott 
so forcibly illustrates some traits in her 
character that it may well serve as an 
introduction, both to this tribute and this 
One day Rev. Mr. Mars entered my office 
with an air of perplexity not usually witnessed on his 
kindly countenance, which, if kissed by the sun's 
heat into a proper brownness, also retains much 
of the sun's light in its steady, illuminating smile. 
Said he, "I am in a fix. I have been at Chicopee 
Falls assisting in a protracted meeting with sister Van 
Cott. I asked her to come and preach in my church. 
She consented, and agreed to begin next Sunday; and 
now I have just received this note from her." He 
read the note, which asked him to get board for her 
among her people. Then he added, " I have been 
telling my Church that she was not like the rest of the 

xni 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

white folks, that she would not regard our color with 
any dislike, or treat us any differently from other peo- 
ple. They said they did n't believe it, she was just 
like all the rest of them ; and here comes this note, 
confirming their opinions. What shall I do?" 

"Write her instantly not to come," was the advice 
given. " Do n't disgrace yourself by any humiliations 
such as this prejudice demands." 

He was wiser than his adviser, went to a desk, and 
soon returned with a note very nearly as follows : 

"Dear Sister, — I don't know who your people are. When 
the Lord Jesus comes to us he stops at my house. If you can 
not accept like quarters I have no others to offer. Please let me 
know your answer by telegraph. 

[Signed,] " J. N. MARS." 

That keen thrust did not need a second. This was 
Friday. She received the note Saturday morning, tel- 
egraphed instantly that she would be present, and that 
night, probably for the first time, stayed in the humble 
parsonage of a colored brother, with whom she faith- 
fully and sacrificially labored for two weeks. 

His " people " never saw any sign of the wicked 
contempt of the " pale-faces " in her w r ords or manner. 
She went among that congregation as if it were the 
Fourth Avenue society. She put her arm around 
the necks of those young men and women, calling 
them "my son," "my daughter," as thoughtless of the 
cruel and criminal feeling of most white ministers as 
was the Holy Spirit which was working together with 
her in their troubled breasts. She walked the streets 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

daily to and from church by the side of the pastor, as 
fine a lady in looks and manners, with as fine a gentle- 
man as trod any of its sidewalks at the same moment. 

This, too, it should be noticed, was not done by a 
New England woman, who had been dinned her life 
long with talk on the equality of all men, and who 
stiffened herself up to the discharge of a duty, how- 
ever irksome, by this pressure of conscience and con- 
viction, or who had grown into this grace by this true 
culture, as many of her men and women have grown. 
Mrs. Van Cott was a New York city lady born and 
bred. Her atmosphere had never been filled with 
these agitations. She had been taught to look on 
these brethren and sisters as of another race. The 
idea of social intimacy with them had never entered 
her mind. She as innocently asked for a separate 
boarding-place as she would have asked for a sepa- 
rate room. 

But the instant that arrow from the Lord Jesus 
struck her heart her strong nature yielded entirely — 
never a reserve, never a question. " It is the Lord ; 
I am the Lord's." And the flying telegram was not 
so swift in its leap of a hundred miles as was her soul 
to hear and answer, "Behold the handmaid of the 
Lord \ be it unto me even as thou wilt." Such an act 
stamped her as of a very high order of nature. She 
had nobility of blood. The petty critics might yet 
censure her work and words ; they could not her char- 
acter. In that she left their contempt and conduct 
equally far behind. 



xvi INTRODUCTION. 

The lady who commenced her labors in the city of 
Boston in an African church, is fair to look upon, 
of large frame, of full form, of small, delicate feat- 
ures, light, clear complexion, an eye of melting blue, 
with the pose and ease of a queen of the drawing- 
room. Her dress is elegant to the top of propriety, 
but not a whit beyond. Not one lady in a thousand, 
if one in ten thousand, equals her in that French 
"how to do it" gift of appropriate dress, at once indi- 
vidual and general, unnoticed and most noticeable. 
The chief of the interviewers and bureau men of the 
country, the founder of the first and the expander of 
the second, who knows more public men and women 
than any other person in America,* remarked to the 
most popular of our lady speakers, " Mrs. Van Cott is 
the best-dressed woman that appears on the platform. 
She is not overdressed, nor dowdily dressed, nor com- 
mon and indifferent in her appearance, but she is per- 
fectly dressed." r JThis is true, and this is no small 
commendation. It shows the womanly elegance of 
her nature. It disarms criticism as to her boldness 
in entering the pulpit, and her modes of discourse 
and of appeal, by which she wins such multitudes to 
Christ. She is mistress of their eyes before she opens 
her lips. Grace is in her face and her apparel. As 
becomes the king's daughter, " all her garments smell 
of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia." They conform to 
the laws of beauty and propriety. 

But some may say, "Why dwell on these outward 

* James Redpath to Anna Dickinson. 



INTRODUCTION. xvn 

traits ? What have they to do with her career as an 
evangelist? Is she fit to preach? Can she preach 
because she will swallow down her prejudice, perhaps 
under the impulse of a false ambition, or because 
she wears goodly raiment in a goodly manner ?" Nay, 
but if these show both strength and womanliness they 
are two grand essentials to success. The first proves 
she follows duty unflinchingly, as soon as it is revealed, 
almost unconsciously; the second that she never for- 
gets her ladyhood in this boldness of daring. They 
are typical of her whole career. She rarely does a 
new thing until it is suggested by others, and then she 
does it with a swiftness and a propriety that make it 
both a triumph and a delight. 

She refused to attend class-meeting until a few 
years ago, because she said it was a shame for a 
woman to speak in such places. Enticed to one by 
an invitation to sing, and a promise that she should 
not be compelled to speak, she broke forth, on the 
privilege being offered, in a fullness of testimony and 
power that carried all the class captive, and at once 
made her leader of the leader. When asked to let 
her daughter go to a mission at Five Points to play 
the piano, she said to herself, "Why not go with her?" 
and no sooner said than she was off. When urging 
the pastor of this dying mission to revive it by more 
frequent meetings, and was told that she only could 
make them live, she accepted the unexpected burden 
instantly, and crowded them every night in the week. 
When told by a friend in the country back of New- 



xviii INTRODUCTION. 

burg, who knew of her success in this city work, that 
she must preach to the scattered hamlet, she replies, 
" Preach ? impossible ! I preach ?" But the reply is, 
" What is that but what you do in New York, except 
to take a text ?" She sees it, and enters the school- 
house, takes a text, and the house is far too strait for 
the crowds that throng it. " You must go to a little 
church near by," says her friend. She goes. The 
platform is far from the light. Her eyes fail to see 
the hymns. He whispers, "Go into the pulpit." 
" Horror !" again leaps first from her lips ; " I in a 
pulpit? Never!" The sober second thought rushes 
after the first, and she thinks, " What is a pulpit but 
a place where the speaker better sees the audience 
and the audience the speaker?" And up she enters, 
never to leave it until her work is done. 

In that section hundreds are converted under her 
preaching. The ministers say, "You must attend to 
this work all the time." " I can not," she answers ; 
"my business is on my hands ; I must get my living." 
But she follows the voice, gives up a lucrative busi- 
ness, and devotes herself wholly to the work. They 
say, "You must be licensed as a local preacher." 
Again she objects, again submits. Thus every step 
in her public career has been forced upon her, and 
thus every step has been a victory. 

It is not our purpose, nor have we space here, to 
discuss the questions involved in the labors of this 
elect lady. That they have taken the Church by sur- 
prise is true. It did not expect to have this duty set 



INTRODUCTION. xix 

before its face. It did not dream that it would be 
called to license women as preachers, to ordain them 
as such, to station them as such. The Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and all its affiliated branches, as 
well as its parent stock, give women large liberty 
in its services. Born of a woman — Susanna Wesley 
being almost as directly the mother of Wesley an ism 
as of Wesley — it from the start encouraged woman in 
all works of spiritual activity. She was active in the 
visitations of hospitals, prisons, alms-houses, poor and 
neglected people. She participated freely in all social 
meetings, of which, like the land of the rich man, this 
new movement "brought forth abundantly." She was 
organized into classes and band-meetings, where she 
was required to speak and pray. She knelt around 
the altar, and poured forth her strong cries and tears 
with her brothers over the returning prodigals. She 
uttered her sweet, love-feast testimonies in perfect 
oneness with her leaders and her brethren. In fine, 
there was not a single department of the service of 
the Church in which her silver treble did not chime 
in with his manly bass, and made the harmony all the 
richer, except possibly in the purely clerical or pulpit 
portion. Here an attempt was made to draw the line. 
John Wesley had recognized uneducated men as minis- 
ters, and appointed them their charges. He had even 
made unordained men ministers, on whose heads he 
dare not lay his own hands; on whose heads no hands 
were ever laid. They filled large appointments, did 
a great work for God, and obtained a good report as 



xx INTRODUCTION. 

ministers of Jesus Christ, and yet died as they had 
lived, without a single, formal, ecclesiastical recogni- 
tion as clergymen. This* was done in hundreds and 
probably in thousands of instances. Hardly a score 
of all his preachers did he ordain, and these only near 
the close of his life. 

The bold discretion that ever marked this mighty 
leader, made him hesitate against too much liberty. 
He had enough to carry in this burden of making into 
popular and regular clergy those whom Sydney Smith, 
seventy years after this had been going on, could call 
"consecrated cobblers/' with the approval of all fash- 
ionable Britain, and which, had he called them "un- 
consecrated cobblers," would have been yet more 
pleasing, because to their judgment yet more true. 
Surely Wesley might well hesitate before casting away 
all barriers and admitting women as well as men to 
all the hedged-about dignities of the profession and 
the pulpit. 

Yet he scarcely hesitated. His mother had harder 
work to make him let Thomas Maxfield preach than 
Jhe had to let Mrs. Fletcher and others. His latest 
life, by Tyerman, relates some of these difficulties, and 
his usual mixed policy, wrought out of his steadfast 
maxim, haste slowly. In 1769 he addresses Sarah 
Crosby, a female preacher, a* note, in which he allows 
her to pray and exhort in public, but forbids her to 
take a text, or to speak continuously over five or six 
minutes. Thirty-two years later he had grown in wis- 
dom, or events had grown up to him. A Miss Cam- 



INTRODUCTION, xxi 

bridge was preaching in Ireland, and many Method- 
ists, and Methodist preachers even, had so far forgot- 
ten their own origin as to oppose her, and refused to 
tolerate her. Whereupon she wrote to Mr. Wesley, 
and received this reply : 

London, January^!, 1791. 
"My Dear Sister, — I received your letter an hour ago. 
I thank you for writing so largely and so freely ; do so always to 
me as your friend, as one that loves you well. Mr. Barber has 
the glory of God at heart, and so have his fellow-laborers. Give 
them all honor, and obey them in all things as far as conscience 
permits. But it will not permit you to be silent when God com- 
mands you to speak; yet I would have you give as little offense 
as possible ; and, therefore, I would advise you not to speak at 
any place where a preacher is speaking at the same time, lest you 
should draw away his hearers. Also, avoid the first appearance 
of pride, or magnifying yourself. If you want books, or any 
thing, let me know; I have your happiness much at heart. Dur- 
ing the little time I have to stay on earth, pray for 

" Your affectionate brother, John Wesley." 

Thus his latest words confirm the spirit of his ear- 
liest. He who had made all England accept a non- 
canonical clergy as the most approved before God and 
all the people of any in the realm, with his latest 
breath, hardly a month before he died,* threw the 
door wide open to all those called of God to this 
ministry, and answered all objections of his own fol- 
lowers, at least, if not of any in any Church, who 
might still be possessed of the spirit of the perse- 
cutors of Miss Cambridge. 

There was a good stroke of satire, too, in his advice 
to her not to preach when a preacher was preaching 
. * He died March 2, 1791. This letter was written Jan. 31. 



xxn INTRODUCTION. 

at the same time, lest "she might draw away his hear- 
ers" — a stroke not inapplicable to some modern ob- 
jectors to the modern Miss Cambridge, who would be 
sure to have a very empty house if they should dare 
to hold meetings near her own. 

Methodism has ever accepted the clear leadings of 
Providence. Its success has been largely because of 
this acceptance. It knew not what would be on the 
morrow, but did know that whatever the Lord then 
declared should then be done, it would cheerfully do. 

Has He called women to preach? That is the 
question, and the only question. If He has, every 
true son and daughter of His will say "Amen. So 
let it be. Come in this way, if so Thou wilt, only 
come, Lord Jesus!" 

This book will,, go far toward answering that ques- 
tion. It narrates the wonderful works of God done 
through a woman. It shows how she captures coun- 
try, and village, and city, East and West ; how multi- 
tudes come, and keep coming, to her services; how 
hundreds seek Christ, and find him, under her skillful 
guidance ; how astonishingly she labors. Day and 
night his hand is heavy upon her. The zeal of the 
house of the Lord eateth her up. The "hardest 
cases" bow to her entreaties. Men who have not 
been inside of a church for a score of years come, 
hear, tremble, fall before the Lord, and come forth 
new creatures in Christ Jesus. And her fruit remains. 
Not all of it. No revivalist gathers up perma- 
nently all his results. John Wesley, in one of his last 



INTR OD UCTION. xxm 

letters, writes : " To retain the grace of God is much 
more than to gain it; hardly one in three does this." 
The parables of the sower and of the man casting a 
net into the sea are proofs that this is the law of re- 
vivals, as announced by their Divine Author. She 
scatters this seed on wayside, rocky, and thorny- 
hearted hearers. She brings to the shore all sorts of 
fish ; but much seed falls on good ground. Many fish 
are caught by this skillful fisher of men who abide in 
their new grace, and will grow in it unto eternal life. 
She is, without doubt, to-day, the most popular, most 
laborious, and most successful preacher in the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church. She has more calls, does more 
work, and wins more souls to Christ than any of her 
brothers. She does this by her genius and her faith. 
Genius is naught without faith ; faith is not all-power- 
ful without genius. 

Her sermons are not finished orations \ Peter's 
were not, nor Paul's, nor Christ's. It is doubtful if 
any true Gospel sermons should be. Sermon means 
conversation, and a sermon should be a conversation 
on Christ. Her learning is not of the schools. She 
knows little about theology as a science, probably 
nothing, scholars being judges. She never had the 
least "theological education," so-called, which is 
often an education without theology. She never was 
trained to public speaking. She prepares no dis- 
courses, in the usual sense of pulpit preparation. Like 
Marc Antony, and most successful platform lead- 
ers, and especially all our early, greatest Methodist 



xxiv INTRODUCTION. 

preachers, she only "talks straight on." She tells 
"them that which they themselves do know," shows 
them their sins and their Savior. She is as dramatic 
as Gough, or any actor, with the difference that her 
pictures are as original as her delineations, while 
theirs are simply narrations of stories, or portraitures 
of characters others have formed. Thus she tells the 
story of Abraham offering up Isaac, so that all feel the 
knife descending upon their own naked flesh, and are 
as relieved and delighted as Abraham when the sub- 
stitute appears, and the son marches down the 
mountain side safe to his mother's arms. She paints 
the Deluge so that you hear the windows of heaven 
opening, and the rain pouring its waves on the roof 
of the ark, the ark wherein is salvation. When Peter 
sinks slowly and steadily down, the audience feel 
that they too are drowning, and each shivers in 
affright, and almost bursts forth, for himself, in the 
cry of the apostle, "Lord, save, or I perish 1" Victor 
Hugo's sinking crews are not so powerfully put. Said 
a frequenter of theaters, "She is the greatest actor 
since Fanny Kemble !" But she is no actor. It is 
dead earnest with her. Her appeals are more thrill- 
ing than her descriptions. Nor does she content her- 
self with pulpit efforts. These are only preliminary to 
her prayer-meetings, and altar work. She is over all 
the congregation, addressing every one she can reach, 
and gathering more to the Lord by personal address 
than by her pulpit portrayals and appeals. She 
leaves no stone unturned to save souls. Ceaseless in 



INTRODUCTION. xxv 

prayer, spending whole nights on her knees, visiting 
from house to house, holding meetings all the day 
through, instant in season and out of season, she tires 
the stoutest man with her immense capacity for work, 
as well as astonishes all by her ease and felicity in 
doing it. 

To her own Master she stands or falls. She feels 
a call higher than any of earth. She obeys, and all 
recognize its authenticity. She has made a name in 
the Church annals that will not die. She has done 
for Christ what has so long been done for anti- 
christ — made woman his public helper. People can 
crowd the theaters to see female performers of high 
or low repute, and no one condemns them merely 
for that desire. Lydia Thompson' may beguile, with 
her lascivious troup, myriads of young men to ruin, as 
she, with base, " voluptuous motions, fires the blood of 
inconsiderate youth." Charlotte Cushman, Matilda 
Heron, Ellen Tree, Fanny Kemble, all the good or 
bad actresses of the stage, draw hundreds of thou- 
sands to their fascinations, and no voice objects to 
them because they are women. Songstresses of fame, 
for a century, have led the opera, and alone, almost, 
have made it attractive ; not one male voice to ten 
female acquiring distinction in this sphere. Ladies 
appear at last on the platform, and all the world runs 
after them; some uttering, in graceful words and 
mien, the most graceless doctrine of devils, and scat- 
tering firebrands of hell among the gunpowder sensi- 
bilities of society. 



xxvi INTRODUCTION. 

It was time that fire should fight fire ; that the Lord 
should choose and send forth his daughters to offset 
these daughters of error and sin, and to bring back to 
Christ, through a mother's and a sister's voice, those 
who had been led, by like soft tones and manners, 
into a ruin that, but for this interposition, had been 
eternal. 

The theater, the opera, the platform, are not the only 
sphere for woman. The Church must seize and sanc- 
tify this gift. It must not let the devil have all the 
good female speakers, any more than Charles Wesley 
would allow him to have all the good tunes. Turn 
this battery upon him, is the true policy. Make 
woman draw the young to our churches, as she now 
draws them to the theater; let her lead them to 
Christ, as she has led them to Satan; let her "allure 
to brighter worlds," as she has to darker; let her 
save, and not destroy. Offset the demon Woodhull 
with the saintly Palmer and Van Cott ; make the 
crowds that rush downward fly upward; put out the 
fire of the pit with the fire of God's Spirit. The 
Church hears this word. It is no vain boast of Mrs. 
Van Cott that she first commenced preaching in our 
centenary year; that the second century of our Church 
opened with officially recognizing woman as a clerical 
teacher; that two Conferences, among the most in- 
fluential in the Church, in which her license has 
been given, have refused to censure this action of the 
local and originating body; and that from Boston to 
Chicago she has triumphed over our prejudice and our 



INTRODUCTION. xxvn 

opinion, and verified her right to her license by the 
multitude of seals to her ministry, many of whom will 
be her crown of rejoicing in the day of the Lord 
Jesus. 

That woman, generally, will be called to this work, 
no one believes. Man, generally, is not called to it; 
nor is woman usually led to other spheres of public 
labor. Few are the great singers, actors, or speakers. 
Few, comparatively, are all that compose these classes. 
Her sphere is chiefly home, and will ever be. But 
the same Spirit who made Deborah judge, and Hul- 
dah prophetess; who called Phoebe and Priscilla 
into the ministry,* and made the daughters of Philip 
preachers ; who descended alike on male and female 

* The Commentary of Adam Clarke, on Romans xvi, 12, is confirmatory of 
this view. Thus he speaks of two women of far less prominence than Phoebe 
and Priscilla (the italics are his own) : 

"Tryphena and Tryphosa, two holy women, who, it seems, were assistants 
to the apostle in his work, probably by exhorting, visiting the sick, etc. 
Persis was another woman, who, it seems, excelled the preceding; for, of her 
it is said, she labored much in the Lord. We learn from this that Christian 
women, as well as men, labored in the ministry of the word. In those times 
of simplicity, all persons, whether men or women, who had received the knowl- 
edge of the truth, believed it to be their duty to propagate it to the uttermost 
of their power. Many have spent much useless labor in endeavoring to prove 
that these women did not preach. That there were some prophetesses, as well 
as prophets, in the Christian Church, we learn ; and that a woman might pray 
ox prophesy, provided she had her head covered, we know; and that whoever 
prophesied, spoke unto others to edificatioti, exhortation, and comfort, St. 
Paul declares. 1 Cor. xiv, 2. And that no preacher can do more, every person 
must acknowledge ; because to edify, exhort, and comfort, are the prime ends 
of the Gospel ministry. If women thus prophesied, women thus preached. 
There, is, however, much more than this implied in the Church ministry, of 
which men only, and men called of God, are capable." 

He adds this last sentence as a sop to the brethren who might question his 
previous declarations, though he is careful not to say in what their ministerial 
masculine superiority consists. Certainly, if all he grants them is theirs, noth- 
ing he withholds can fail to follow. 



xxvin INTRODUCTION. 

at the day of Pentecost, and made them all speak 
with other tongues as He gave them utterance — that 
Holy Spirit will continue to call His daughters into 
His service, and give them such proofs of the authen- 
ticity of the call as the most unbelieving shall not be 
able to gainsay or resist. 

Among those thus called, and authenticated by 
signs following, will stand forth, in deserved honor, 
the modest, cultured, Christian lady whose labors in 
the Lord are briefly set forth in the following pages. 




Woman's Place in the Gospel. 



BY REV. D. SHERMAN. 




MARKED distinction between the Gos- 
pel and other religious systems, is seen in 
the place they assign to the female sex. 
The old religions bore the male type — 
were established for man as distinctively as the laws 
by which the State was governed. In their spirit 
these earlier systems were harsh, and often cruel, 
lacking all those milder and gentler features which 
are attained only through the refining and elevating 
influence of woman. Made for man, they caused 
woman to occupy a place in the background, or to 
approach the sacred ark only in the capacity of a 
menial. 

The Gospel, on the other hand, opens to woman a 
new sphere. As the mother of our Lord, as almoner 
and succorer of the faithful, as a servant and teacher 
in the Churches, and especially as the friend and 
companion of our Savior in his trials and sufferings, 

XXIX 



XXX WOMAN'S PLACE IN THE GOSPEL. 

she becomes invested with a sacred interest. As we 
open the record, she occupies a place in the front 
rank, with apostles and evangelists, the type of purity 
and holy love, which, as an atmosphere, encircles and 
hallows the new Church. The names of Mary and 
Elizabeth, of Phoebe, Lydia, and Priscilla, with scores 
less known to fame, are fragrant, and will fade from 
the memory of the Church only with those of Peter, 
James, and John. 

Christianity is emphatically the Gospel of woman. 
It takes the female type, and exalts the humaner and 
feminine virtues. In the old religions, as the repre- 
sentatives of male vigor, force and bravery stood in 
the front, while in the Gospel the train is led by pa- 
tience, humility, gentleness, meekness, and such like. 
Woman becomes the fittest type of such a system. 
The Redeemer is not created like Adam, nor born as 
other men, but "made of a woman," and in his char- 
acter touched largely with the feminine hue. He was 
not what the world counts a hero, cold and stern, 
driving through the earth with an iron energy, crush- 
ing the more pliant forms of humanity beneath the 
wheels of his chariot j but with the intuition of Plato, 
and the higher moral courage of a martyr, he joined 
the gentleness and heart of a woman. 

That such a Savior and such a system attract 
about them the female more readily than the male 
sex, is not remarkable. Man feels the gentle touch 
of the Gospel only when some of the dross of his 
character has been purged away ; woman, in a nature 



WOMAN'S PLACE IN THE GOSPEL. xxxi 

more refined and spiritual, is reached directly through 
the heart. The higher place also assigned to woman 
in the Gospel attracts her toward it. In other systems 
she holds a place below man; in this, as his equal. 
There is but one platform. She may choose her posi- 
tion as well as man. In Christ there is no bond or free, 
no male or female—all are one. This is the Gospel 
ideal — the end to which the Gospel tends. That the 
end was not reached in a day we are well aware. 
God is in no haste ; ages often elapse in the evolu- 
tion of his plans for human improvement. It took 
four thousand years to prepare the way for the Gospel, 
and it seems likely to take as much longer to unfold 
the germs of truth planted by the Savior, into the va- 
rious forms of religious and social life. 

In effecting these changes in the state of society, 
there are two methods in which it would be possible 
to proceed : the one would be to inaugurate at once 
the new ideas \ the other, to introduce them gradually, 
and almost imperceptibly, after a course of prepara- 
tion. The one would be likely to strike men with 
surprise, would infringe on their customs, violate all 
their ideas of propriety, and be liable to be resisted by 
the conservative elements of society; while the other, 
approaching gradually, after a series of preparations, 
would seem to chime in with the movements of the 
age, and to be the natural and inevitable fruits of pre- 
ceding practice, and hence would be adopted without 
violence, or at least with less violence than by the 
opposite method. 



xxxn WOMAN'S PLACE IN THE GOSPEL. 

The late Emperor of Russia, after a visit to West- 
ern Europe, conceived the idea of ingrafting upon his 
own empire the free institutions which had gradually 
grown up among his neighbors j but the very people 
for whom he designed these benefits, hitherto accus- 
tomed to the rigid rule of despotism, were the first to 
interpose obstacles in his way. Unused to reforms, 
he did not understand that such movements, to be 
successful, must follow in the train of other events 
which have made for them a path, and created a 
favorable sentiment in the hearts of the people. It is 
useless to sow the grain till the ground has been 
plowed and mellowed for the seed. All the great re- 
forms of Europe have been not only revolutions, but 
gradual ameliorations, the preparation slowly ap- 
proaching through ages, till the long movement culmi- 
nates in a sudden enfranchisement, a great uprising, 
which we call a revolution. Ages were employed in 
charging the mine ; a chance step may have produced 
the explosion. Reforms, undertaken before this prep- 
aration and readiness, are inevitable failures ; the 
leaders may have the truth, but they are ahead of the 
age, and march on without followers. He only is a 
successful leader of men who moves with the masses. 
The true reformer, like the practiced traveler, hastens 
slowly, and along the best roads, even though they be 
a little longer. 

If we turn back the pages of history, we shall find 
that the Divine method of reform has ever been that 
of gradual preparation. Moses preceded the proph- 



WOMAN'S PLACE IN THE GOSPEL. xxxm 

ets ; the prophets, down to John the Baptist, prepared 
the way for the Messiah. 

The first step in the progress was to announce the 
principles involved, in a general form, and without 
reference to the specific case. 

It is the method adopted by Nathan when he ap- 
proached the King of Israel ; the fair bait is swallowed 
before it is discovered what a sharp hook it incloses. 
In the abstract nearly all men will assent to the right, 
and God's plan is to commit them to the principle 
before learning that the principle trenches on some 
selfish interest, some darling lust, some idol of the 
soul. 

Having gained the assent of the judgment and con- 
science, he would lead men to practice on this line, 
and then when they approach other selfish lines, they 
will find themselves pre-committed to the right side. 
At first they may revolt from the path of self-denial, 
but conscience begins her tuition, and from those ad- 
mitted principles conducts the mind to right conclu- 
sions. 

On this plan the teachings of the New Testament 
proceed. Take the case of war for an illustration. 
Neither Christ nor his apostles made any open attack 
on the usage, although they laid down principles as 
the basis of the Gospel totally opposed to war. The 
age in which they lived was not prepared for univer- 
sal peace, and efforts made to inaugurate it at once 
would have resulted in a more terrible state of war ; 
but as the world advanced in the practice of the gen- 

3 



xxxiv WOMAN'S PLACE IN THE GOSPEL. 

eral precepts of the Gospel, they came gradually, and 
by a few minds, to appreciate their better features, and 
so the seeds of peace were permitted to germinate. 

Slavery affords a like instance. With three-quarters 
of the people in the Roman Empire in slavery, the 
apostles could not have been ignorant or indifferent 
to the institution. What strikes us as remarkable is, 
that in the presence of this gigantic iniquity, no open 
attack is made upon it. A moment's reflection, how- 
ever, convinces us that a direct attack would have 
proved fatal to the Church, and so, in the end, to the 
cause of emancipation. 

Slavery was not only intrenched behind secular 
power, but also in the ideas and habits of the ancient 
world ; and before it could be removed a flank move- 
ment was required to change the convictions of men, 
not only in palaces, but in cottages. While yielding 
for a time to the form of the institution, the apostles 
laid down principles which cut away the foundations 
of the system. How could the rude servitude of the 
time permanently live in the presence of the Sermon 
on the Mount, or of the golden rule, or of those prin- 
ciples of equity, of law and justice, which lie at the 
basis of the Gospel? No man was to be master; all 
were to stand on an equal footing of brotherhood. 

The seed sown by the apostles long seemed to lie 
dormant ; but in after times it bore fruit. Begun in a 
sentiment, it grew into a grand movement, which has 
swept through the ages, renewing the face of the earth. 
Who now doubts that this indirect method is the 



WOMAN'S PLACE IN THE GOSPEL. xxxv 

wiser? In this, the most effectual, indeed, under a 
despotism, the only way, did the apostles oppose 
slavery in the Old World. 

The same method was adopted in the case of 
woman. The believer in the elevation and rights 
of woman, on opening the New Testament where he 
would naturally expect to find some recognition of his 
views, will find no discussion of the subject, and yet 
the book is pervaded by principles which traverse the 
whole field and sanction his most advanced ideas. 
The reason for the silence is to be found in the fact 
that the world was not ready for the discussion. In 
the East, where the Gospel was first promulgated, 
woman held a low place on the social scale, public 
sentiment had become familiarized to her humiliation, 
and many preliminary steps would be required before 
reaching the climacteric points of discussion of to-day. 
Hence the apostles, while sedulously performing the 
duties proximate to them, remitted those ulterior ques- 
tions which are now looming up before us to the future 
ages which should enjoy the practice of the primary 
principles. In molding society they proceeded as you 
would in the education of your son. You begin with 
simple and general principles, and, when these are 
well established in the mind, to apply them to solve 
the various problems arising in the course of investi- 
gation. No one would think strange that during the 
first month you did not discuss the questions of the 
higher mathematics or of metaphysics. Those stud- 
ies are only deferred till the pupil has mastered the 



xxxvi WOMAN'S PLACE IN THE GOSPEL. 

principles, and has come to a state to comprehend 
these deeper truths. 

Hence, if asked whether the Bible favors the ele- 
vation of woman as taught by modern reformers, our 
answer would be both negative and positive. If you 
mean to ask whether the apostles raised the questions 
now agitated among us, our answer would be in the 
negative. They had not reached these more advanced 
lessons. They did not ask the ballot, for they did not 
hold it themselves. They did not ask that she might 
be educated at college, for they had no colleges. In a 
word, they did not touch the points we discuss to-day, 
as they had not reached them; but at the same time 
they had started on the road toward them, and were 
solving those rudimentary problems which would ulti- 
mately merge in and solve the later ones. The apos- 
tles began the elevation and education of woman, and 
left the movement to flow on so far and in such chan- 
nels as Providence and the current of events might 
open for it, thus preparing the way for a much broader 
and grander work than they themselves were permitted 
to perform. They addressed woman as a responsible 
being, elevated her status in the family, and admitted 
her to the Christian assembly on the same basis with 
the man, as w r ell as gave her a mission in the Church. 
These points, so opposed to the spirit of the age, nec- 
essarily led to the greater questions of our own time 
relating to the position of woman in the State and 
Church. Such is the idea and design of the Gospel, 
the problem to be wrought out in the long ages by the 



WOMAN'S PLACE IN THE GOSPEL, xxxyii 

Church. That her work has been but too poorly per- 
formed maybe readily admitted, but it remains as true 
that she struggles on toward this goal where all the 
people of Christ, of every nation, condition, sex, shall 
occupy the platform of equal rights and privileges. 

In glancing at what has been done in this line by 
the different branches of the Church, we can not fail 
to see that the Greek and other Oriental Churches 
have been most recreant Instead of comprehending 
the high purpose of the Gospel with which they had 
been intrusted to elevate all classes, they began a ret- 
rograde movement to reduce the Gospel to the level 
of Oriental ideas and habits. Woman was not allowed 
to meet in the assembly with men, nor to perform any 
conspicuous mission in the Church. In the West she 
fared better, though here the Divine idea was not fully 
attained. Woman became in a fuller sense a respon- 
sible individual, was admitted to the place of worship 
with man, and in various ways was allowed to perform 
her mission in the Church. In the Reformation the 
cause of woman was still further advanced, not so 
much by any direct handling of the subject as by the 
general principles which uplifted the whole stratum 
of society and thus prepared the way for those who 
should labor for this specific cause. 

The rise of Methodism, more than any preceding 
religious uprising since the apostolic days, contributed 
to the solution of the woman question in its ecclesias- 
tical relations. The societies afforded her an ample 
sphere of usefulness. In the class and social meetings 



xxxvin WOMAN'S PLACE W THE GOSPEL. 

she was called to improve, and in many cases allowed 
to hold services and exhort, which is the next step to 
preaching. Even the latter privilege was not denied 
to those who evinced a Divine call to the work. But 
the early Methodists, though they entered on the right 
road in the treatment of woman, left much to be done 
by their successors. They opened to her the social 
meetings, and gave her other fields of labor, while it 
remains for us to carry forward the movement, and to 
admit her fully to the privileges of the pulpit. That 
the time has come to take this latter step seems to be 
indicated by the fact that women begin to hear the 
Divine call, of which sister Van Cott is a notable 
instance. 

The appearance among us of so remarkable a 
woman may be regarded as the heralding of a new 
phase of our dispensation. With some defects she 
joins commanding qualities well worthy of note. 
With a fine figure and presence, a countenance 
rotund and rubicund, expressive of an exuberance 
of good nature, she unites some rare mental traits. 
The hale and joyous spirit beaming on her counte- 
nance diffuses itself at once through the audience as 
she rises to speak. Like a woman, she speaks out 
of the heart, and by means of a vivid imagination 
pictures before the audience the scenes she wishes to 
present, and then, with the happiest tact, gives point 
to her lesson so as to lead men to Christ. With a 
peculiar combination of modesty and boldness, she 
stands before the congregation self-possessed and like 



WOMAN'S PLACE IN THE GOSPEL. xxxix 

a skillful player on an instrument, ready to evoke 
whatever tune she may choose. Like all great lead- 
ers, she has the power of attaching to her "as with 
hooks of steel" whole troops of people. She pos- 
sesses many of the qualities that distinguish Henry 
Ward Beecher — bold, imaginative, electrical — often 
carrying an audience into the wildest enthusiasm by 
a single dash of her wand. With a tact to meet all 
emergencies, she exhibits the resources of a great 
general, and employs them, not to please, but to save 
men ; and that her labors have been crowned with the 
Divine favor can be doubted by no one acquainted 
with her history. Why should not such a woman be 
clothed with the full powers of the ministry ? 




Life and Labors 

OF 

Mrs. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 



CHAPTER I. 



PARENTAGE AND EARLY HOME. 




AGGIE NEWTON was born in the city 
of New York, March 25, 1830. 

William K. Newton and Rachel A. 
Primrose, her parents, were natives of the same 
city. The father was a gentleman of rare dignity, 
gentle temperament, full of mirth and good-hu- 
■a fine specimen of an Englishman. 



mor- 



The mother was of Scotch descent, gentle to 
the children, but very commanding, possessing a 
fiery temperament, high impulsive energy, with 
perseverance enough for any emergency. 

William P. Primrose, the grandfather on the 



2 MKS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

mother's side, was a generous, humane Scotch- 
man of great worth. Maggie received her first 
impressions of Methodism while nestling on his 
bosom in the early years of childhood, he being, 
of all the relatives, the only Methodist. From 
him, one star-lit evening, she received her first 
lesson of heaven and the angels. He taught her 
many beautiful hymns, among which was that one 
of so many childhood memories, 

" Twinkle, twinkle, little star," etc. 

Then, with his clear, strong voice, the faithful 
Christian would sing that good old hymn, 

" When I can read my title clear," etc. 

The impressions of those hallowed hours were 
never forgotten. He was a member of the Wil- 
lett-Street Methodist Episcopal Church for many 
years, and lived in the steady light of the Gospel 
of Christ, loved by all, and faithful in Christian 
duties to the end of life. 

During the dreadful cholera of 1832, when thou- 
sands fled from New York city, he fell under its 
stroke. The room of the sufferer seemed to be 
filled with angels, and he frequently called the 
attention of the family to the unseen messengers 
surrounding his couch. As he passed away a 
light from heaven flooded his beautiful counte- 
nance and left a lingering halo. There were 



PARENTA GE AND EARL Y HOME. 3 

many sincere mourners at that funeral, despite the 
ravages of the disease, and the house of God was 
filled to overflowing. 

The grandmother was of English origin, retir- 
ing in manners, and a perfect lady. It was quite 
an event for the grandchildren when invited to her 
elegant home ; all that heart could desire was there 
in abundance. Maggie, being the eldest grand- 
child, was a wonder among the circle of relatives. 
Those parlors frequently echoed with little foren- 
sic displays, which were the subject of many re- 
marks by the kindred. The aged grandma was 
not religious, and if some youthful displays not 
wholly religious were indulged in by the children, 
no check was ever interposed. In March, 1871, 
at the age of eighty-four, she passed to that 
throng from whence no tidings return. 

William K. Newton was a man of fine stature, 
military bearing, and for a number of years com- 
mander of the National Grays, a military body of 
New York city. He bore the title of Major, and 
when on parade wore a splendid uniform. As - a 
mark of esteem he was presented with a costly 
sword by the members of his command. He 
gave them frequent entertainments at his own 
home, and after the scenes of the day were passed, 
a grand waltz would ensue, led by 

" The pipe and the tuneful string." 



4 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

The elegant mansion was almost constantly 
thronged with gay company, dinners, and dancing 
parties being the general order of the day. 

Mr. Newton was for a number of years in 
charge of the real estate of Peter Lorillard, a to- 
bacconist. Isaac Greenwood, a retired gentle- 
man, intrusted to his hands a large real estate 
brokerage. He was in the employ of John Jacob 
Astor for a term of years, and had the oversight 
of his immense real estate. Nature had done 
much for him ; he was a man of princely bearing, 
with dark-brown hair, blue eyes, and a charming 
voice. In business he was rapid, correct, and pre- 
cise. On his return home from the office, he was 
always greeted by his companion at the door, and 
after mother, there followed a general scramble 
by the children for the next kiss. The heavy 
rounds of duty generally occupied the week, but 
when the holy Sabbath came, all the family was 
punctual in attendance at the Church of the 
Epiphany. 

Maggie, " the idol," at six years of age, was 
able, of course, to do any thing a child could ac- 
complish. She led the singing at home, and her 
strong voice in the choir cut its way through the 
deep tones of the organ, and was heard all over 
the church. The proud father stood by her side, 
and touched the deeper bass notes with the great- 



PARENTAGE AND EARLY HOME. 5 

est ease. On the way home from the house of 
God, the first confectionery store found open was 
sure to receive a large order for candies, and the 
four children enjoyed a Sabbath afternoon in a 
style wholly to their own liking. The well-stored 
cellar yielded an abundant supply of apples, while 
in the garrets were found hickorynuts, walnuts, 
and whatever else could give comfort and joy. 
The care of training the children rested almost 
wholly on the mother. At the age of eleven, it 
became necessary for Maggie to be confirmed, 
according to the rules of the Episcopal Church. 
Her father conducted the necessary preparations, 
and, as she was kneeling at the altar, and just as 
the bishop pronounced the last words of the usual 
ritual, she fainted, and was tenderly carried by 
her father to their pew. The Sabbath following 
she partook, for the first time, of the holy sacra- 
ment. The choir, led by the sweet-toned organ, 
rendered in fine style good old St. Martins, to the 
93d hymn in the Episcopal collection, 

" Thou, God, all glory, honor, power," etc. 

Maggie's health failed about this time, and she 
was sent to Almira, N. Y., for a few weeks, 
thence to Southport, Conn. ; but nothing relieved 
the supposed disease of the heart. The horrid 
drugs given her had no effect in removing the 



6 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

cause, which was simply that of chewing slate- 
pencils. She revealed the secret to no one, 
save the young gentleman who was waiting upon 
her, who brought, every evening, a bunch of candy 
and slate-pencils, which were generally disposed 
of during the following day. Her mother gave 
her spending-money, to purchase whatever she 
might desire, which was usually divided between 
slate-pencils and candy, the children receiving the 
latter. Strange as it may seem, during all this 
time of suffering she retained her clear, strong 
voice, and delighted in singing. Under these 
many discouraging circumstances, her studies 
progressed slowly, though she had a very retent- 
ive memory, and usually made rapid progress 
whenever her mind was applied. She had an un- 
quenchable thirst for history, and read volume 
after volume rapidly. She led her class in math- 
ematics, and grammar came almost by intuition. 
It became known at this time that she was en- 
gaged to be married, though not yet twelve years 
of age, to the same young man who furnished the 
slate-pencils. He was of good family, a custom- 
house broker, and turned out well in after life. 
The wedding was all arranged, clothes ordered, 
and a trip to Europe planned. In the simplicity 
of her heart, she revealed the secret to her aunt, 
who carried the news speedily to Mrs. Newton, 



PA RE NT A GE AND EARL Y HOME. J 

who set herself vigorously at work to break up 
the match, and the mother was victorious. Sev- 
eral times the broken-hearted lover came to see 
Maggie, but the mother was inexorable. Beauti- 
ful bouquets, and large Havana oranges, were left 
on the door-steps for several weeks, but he was 
never permitted to see her again. Some fifteen 
years passed, and while crossing the river on a 
ferry-boat one day, she recognized him, but he 
had entirely forgotten the features of the delicate 
girl in the strong and vigorous lady. He was 
much surprised when she called up a few memo- 
ries of other days, and they both enjoyed a hearty 
laugh over their youthful adventures. 

The homestead at this time was thought to be 
haunted. There were strange and hideous noises 
around and in the house. Doors would open and 
shut, footsteps would be heard in the hall, and 
the dog would spring from the rug and bark furi- 
ously ; while a voice, just like that of his master, 
would be heard quieting him ; and when all was 
over, it was positively known that no one had en- 
tered or gone from the house. On other occa- 
sions, at night, when all was still, footsteps would 
be heard on the stairs, and if one in the house 
arose to search, the sounds continued, and would 
seemingly rush by, and up the stairway, passing 
the person ascending. Rooms, securely locked, 



8 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

would be disturbed ; looking-glasses were taken 
carefully from their hangings and placed on the 
floor ; a box, at one time, was dashed across the 
room, scattering promiscuously a great variety of 
trinkets. 

About three weeks after this, Willie Newton, 
aged nine years, was playing in the garden, shov- 
eling snow, when suddenly, as he threw a ball in 
the air, exclaiming, "See, pa! see, pa!" he fell 
backward, struck with apoplexy. He was taken 
into the house, lingered three days, and died. 
During his short sickness the house seemed again 
unusually haunted. The large folding-doors would 
open and stand ajar, despite the lock and bolt, or 
repeated efforts to keep them closed. This curi- 
ous phenomenon was at length thoroughly tested. 
The mother would shut and bolt the doors, wait 
a moment, but as soon as her back was turned, 
the unseen power would promptly open them 
again. 

After the death of the little boy the home was 
sold, and a small, neat cottage purchased in East 
New York — now Brooklyn — where one pleasant 
Summer was passed entirely free from all hobgob- 
lins and doleful echoes. In the Fall Maggie was 
attacked with intermittent fever. The fearful 
sickness, accompanied with spasms, lasted about 
one month. From the date of her recovery she 



PARENTAGE AND EARLY HOME, 9 

greatly improved in health. Later in the 
Fall the whole family moved to Williamsburg, 
Long Island, to a very comfortable home on 
Grand - street, between Seventh and Eighth. 
Here commenced a series of musical entertain- 
ments, soirees, dinner parties, and the usual festiv- 
ities so attractive to the young. Among the 
throng now and then appeared Methodist friends, 
whose piety shone with a cheerful light. Little 
by little Maggie heard of their ways, and the 
charm of their singing in church services. Now 
and then she attended the Methodist church, but 
was sure to be severely reproved by her mother 
on her return. 

On the corner of Ewen and Grand streets stood 
the Gothic Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
next to it her father had purchased a house in the 
row called " The Fourteen Buildings," which re- 
moved the family some two miles away from the 
Episcopal church. In the morning the long walk 
was taken, but in the afternoon, or evening, being 
denied the privilege of attending the Methodist 
services, Maggie would hide herself away in the 
cupola of the house, and listen to the songs, earnest 
prayers, and vigorous ministrations in the church. 
Heart yearnings, stronger than can be imagined, 
were constantly hers, during four long years, to 
attend these means of grace. Several severe 

4 



10 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

chastisements for expressing these desires only 
imbittered her life and made it more miserable. 

The gentle-hearted father was not in sympathy 
with the sternness and iron will of the mother, 
who had set herself resolutely at work to keep 
her daughter from attending the glorious revivals 
now and then held in the church. 

Thus passed the early years of childhood. Girl- 
hood she had none ; the discipline of home had 
bridged that space in life, so that from her sixth 
year she was made to know that she was a young 
lady. Other children romped and played on the 
green ; her younger sister and brother had their 
sports and plays, but she had none. A relish for 
a moment's sport was so effectually destroyed that 
at last she came to prefer the society of older and 
grown persons. 




CHAPTER II. 



MARRIED. 




URING the Winter of 1847, at one of the 
evening entertainments, when a goodly 
company had assembled, there appeared a 
stranger, tall, strong, and vigorous, with light-brown 
hair, large blue eyes, and in every way worthy of 
the highest regard, his sister, a beautiful young 
lady, accompanying him. She was no stranger 
to the Newton family, and took this occasion to 
introduce her brother. As the company was re- 
tiring, a general invitation was given by Maggie 
for all the guests to return on the same evening 
of the ensuing week. At the door Mr. and Mrs. 
Newton were formally introduced, and Maggie 
felt a strange thrill from the parting words of 
Peter P. Van Cott as he passed over the thresh- 
old, accompanied by his sister. At the appointed 
time they were all at Mr. Newton's again, and 
when a quartette was wanted Mr. Newton fur- 
nished the bass, Sarah M. Van Cott the alto, 

11 



12 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

Maggie a good strong soprano, and no richer 
tenor voice was known in all the circle of acquaint- 
ances than that possessed by Mr. Van Cott. 

His visits became frequent, for the entertain- 
ments were not abated as the happy days flew on. 
On Christmas evening the two were alone in the 
parlor. The usual time for retiring, as a rule in 
that house, was ten o'clock, but was overrun by 
them more than an hour that night. The fire had 
gone out in the parlor ; they had stepped into the 
dining-room, when suddenly the footsteps of Mr. 
Newton were heard on the stairs. Maggie's heart 
throbbed, and she was very fearful of the result. 
On entering the room he said — 

" You know, my daughter, this is a very un- 
seasonable hour, and you will be sick to-morrow." 

"I think it will not make much difference 
now," answered Mr. Van Cott for her, and while 
they stood talking, Maggie sped from the room. 

" Why, you are getting along swimmingly," 
continued Mr. Newton. " I do n't know about 
your coming and taking away Maggie ; she is the 
flower of my flock." 

"That is just the reason I want her," replied 
Mr. Van Cott. 

While this conversation was going on Maggie 
stood shivering near the front-door, awaiting the 
result. Soon Peter appeared, and when the fare- 



MARRIED. 13 

well had been exchanged, Maggie ran upstairs, 
and when passing the door of her mother's room, 
heard her call, 

" Maggie !" 

Trembling with fear, Maggie stopped at the 
call of her mother. The old lady was in no pleas- 
ant mood, and thus berated her daughter : 

" Beautiful idea, this ! Beautiful time of night, 
this ! Light burning till this time of night, and 
you know it 's against your father's orders, and 
how dare you disobey ? What have you been 
talking about all this time ?" 

With downcast eyes, and shaking from head to 
foot, Maggie replied, 

"Why, ma, Peter proposed, and we were talk- 
ing the matter over." 

" Proposed ! to marry, eh ! For heaven's sake, 
what next ? What kind of a home has he got for 
you ?" 

" I do n't know ; I did not ask him," was the 
subdued reply. 

" Now go to bed, and let me hear no more of 
this." 

The hours of that night were spent between 
hopes and fears, but her mind was made up this 
time, and her hopes and joys were not to be 
blasted. In the morning the father said, 

"So, daughter, you have really made up your 



14 MRS.. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

mind to marry, have you ? What are you going 
to do ? Has he a home to take you to, or any 
property ? You know you have a good home 
here." 

" I do n't know, pa ; I suppose he has," said 
Maggie. 

The mother saw in a moment the resolution of 
the daughter, but still she remonstrated, and said, 
" Think before you leap ; remember you are not 
coming home any more." 

" God helping me," replied Maggie, " I never 
will." 

" When is this to take place ?" asked the mother. 

" On the twenty-third day of January," was the 
prompt reply. 

" The time is so short you will not have time to 
prepare." 

The time was, indeed, short, scarcely a month 
before the nuptials. The mother turned in and 
helped to arrange the trousseau, and when the 
Sabbath morning of the wedding-day dawned, the 
Winters sun shone brilliantly on the newly fallen 
snow, but Maggie acted like one in whom scarcely 
a breath of life remained. 

" You act like one nearly dead," spoke the 
father. Indeed the responsibility of the great 
future was just opening upon her mind. 

As the day wore away the bridesmaids came 



MARRIED. 15 

and tendered their assistance, and the mother 
was never more loving in all her life. The even- 
ing arrived, a crowd of invited guests assembled 
in the front parlor, and when all were ready, the 
great folding-doors were thrown open by the col- 
ored servants, and about eighty persons gathered 
around the well-arranged group. The Episcopal 
clergyman stepped forward, and used the whole 
service as found in the prayer-book. Mr. Van 
Cott responded very readily, having memorized 
the part pertaining to the bridegroom. When 
the minister, addressing the bride, arrived at the 
word "obey," there was a pause. Maggie had 
determined to skip that word, but the mother had 
been in consultation with the minister, and three 
times was the question asked before the trembling 
bride said, in a very low voice, " obey." As the 
solemn words were heard, " Who giveth this 
woman to be married to this man ?" the father, 
taking the hand of his daughter, raised and kissed 
it tenderly, saying, "I do." 

The ceremonies over, then came the congratu- 
lations, and under the shower of blessings the 
bride came near fainting. 

At this moment she was introduced to Mr. Van 
Cott's father, one of those great and good-hearted 
men of ruddy complexion and aldermanic propor- 
tions, who was brimful of mirth and joy on this 



1 6 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

grand occasion. The only son and idol of his 
home had captured the "jewel" from Mr. New- 
ton's ; and now explanations and mutual good- 
cheer passed around. 

In the midst of the busy hum of voices, sup- 
per was announced, a most sumptuous feast, last- 
ing some two hours. After this about the same 
time was spent in conversation before the guests 
began to retire. The carriages were scattered 
around for several squares, and were especially 
thick near the Gothic Church. The whole affair 
had been conducted so quietly not a person in 
the neighborhood suspected the wedding. The 
moon shone brightly, and all was splendid with- 
out as the last carriage drove away. A few mo- 
ments of quiet in the parlor, and then the good- 
nights came. Mr. Newton, addressing Mr. Van 
Cott, said., " Peter, you have my treasure ; show 
your manliness now by taking choice care of her." 

"Mr. Newton," replied the bridegroom, "I 
think you will never regret having given her to 
me." 

The mother then had her say : " Do n't let me 
ever hear of your speaking a cross word to her, or 
she will walk home quicker." 

This was said with so much vim that it was 
decidedly amusing. 

The colored nurse came forward, her head en- 



MARRIED. 17 

compassed with a huge bandana handkerchief, 
and bowing down at the bride's feet and taking 
her hand, said, " God bress you, honey, you done 
gone away from us now." Then turning to Mr. 
Van Cott, " God bress you, Massa Peter ; you got 
our rosebud now, take good care of her." 

And with these touching scenes the wedding 
was over. 

Next day the happy pair departed to Mr. Van 
Cott's home, where, during the evening, a throng 
of company assembled. The next afternoon Mag- 
gie made a call on her sister-in-law, living in the 
adjoining house, when, on passing the threshold 
of the door, she slipped, sprained her ankle, fell, 
and fainted. Of course there was no small com- 
motion. The husband was quickly summoned, 
and consciousness being restored, Peter remarked, 
" There, mother, I believe I am sold." This 
started the laugh, and all anxiety was over. 

The great desire to be with her husband led 
the wife frequently into the store and behind the 
counter. Her fingers could show the delicate 
goods more readily even than the expert clerks, 
and her mind had a natural business turn. The 
home, the place of business, and the surroundings, 
made life seem a little heaven ; and, as if to add 
to the joy of earth, a little cherub of a daughter 
was born. 



1 8 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

There was rejoicing in both homes ; Mr. New- 
ton and Mr. Van Cott, the grandfathers, exchanged 
congratulations, and the grandmas were possessed 
of the best of good feelings. In about four weeks 
Mrs. Newton ordered the daughter and grand- 
child to be brought to her home. It proved a 
very unfortunate thing, indeed, for the young 
mother caught cold, and in a day or two was car- 
ried back to her home, and for six months never 
left her room. The sister-in-law cared for the 
little one w T hile the mother was afflicted. A 
shadow of her former self was about all that re- 
mained, when at length health and strength 
slowly returned. Home was made merry by the 
prattle of the child ; the days glided gently by, 
and life put on its sweetest joy. 

During the Fall Mr. Van Cott was engaged for 
some weeks at the wharf, purchasing feed from 
the sloops coming down the East River, and on 
one raw, cold day, caught a violent cold. He re- 
turned home quite ill, and the physician being 
summoned, pronounced his disease varioloid, in its 
worst form. The poison in his veins did not spread 
out over the surface of his body, but settled on his 
lungs. From that time pain and disease was his 
heritage. A year passed, and he continued cough- 
ing so violently as to create the worst fears. On 
Christmas day, 185 1, the family all gathered at Mr. 



MARRIED. I g 

Van Cott's, the grandchildren having a splendid 
time. Little Rachel, the chubby, rosy-cheeked 
darling, whose form and complexion were all 
that mortals could desire, did not awaken the 
next morning to greet pa and ma, as usual. 
Her face was burning with heat ; and when 
the doctor came, he quickly pronounced the 
disease scarlet fever, of the most malignant 
type. Then came the shadows of care and anx- 
iety. All that mortals could do was faithfully 
done, but still the little sufferer grew worse, hour 
by hour. 

The Dutch of Long Island have a curious cus- 
tom of " shooting the devil," as they call it, on 
New- Year Sieve, making the occasion a kind of 
second Fourth of July, and at times the noise in 
the street is dreadful. This night the little one 
was dying, and the moan of the poor sufferer was 
in strange contrast with the clamor without. 
At a quarter before three o'clock on New- 
Year's morning she passed gently away to be 
with Him who calls the lambs to his side, and 
carries them in his bosom. The entire household 
was in deep grief, and the poor mother's heart 
rebelled. 

"O dear, dear, this is cruel," she cried, "cruel 
beyond all description ; there is sister, who has 
three children ; why did not God take one of them ? 



20 MRS, MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

He knew I could not spare my child, my only 
child. The Bible tells of heaven being bright ; 
I am sure it did not need her to make it any 
brighter. I do not wish to see the sun ever shine 
again." 

" Do n't, dear," said the husband, " do n't speak 
so ; God doeth all things well." 

" How can it be well ? I do n't think so at all. 
I do n't want to see his sun shine again." 

Grandpa Newton was wonderfully stricken. 
Entering the room, and finding his daughter so 
terribly overcome, he endeavored to comfort her 
by saying, 

" My child, can you not say ' the Lord gave 
and the Lord has taken away, and blessed be the 
name of the Lord ?' " 

" How can I say ' blessed be the name of the 
Lord,' pa, when he has robbed me of all I have 
on earth ?" 

" My child, you have Peter yet." 

" Yes, but I wanted her, too." 

None can describe the horrors of that first 
night's loneliness. They missed the little prattler 
as they gathered around the hearth-stone that 
evening. The little feet that had been wont to 
come and leap into papa's arms, and the flaxen 
head that nestled in his bosom, while pink toes 
would shine from under her night robe, and the 



MARRIED. 2 1 

blue eyes turned upward, as she would repeat, in 
words so broken, yet tenderly sweet, 

% " Jempen Jesus, meeker mild, 

Look upon a little chile, 
Pity my timpitilee, 
Helper Lord, to comer me," 

all, all were gone, and only gloom, darkness, and 
grief, filled the heretofore bright and happy 
home. 

When Mr. Van Cott went into the store the 
day after the funeral, he saw a barrel of sand 
standing where she had so often played, and there 
were the prints of her hands yet undisturbed. 
He looked at them for a moment, but came near 
fainting under the load of sorrow. 

In a few weeks the grief of the mother some- 
what subsided, and she was again full of mirth 
and gayety. Not so with the father ; his grief was 
deep and strong ; and grandpa Van Cott never 
rallied from the stroke. 

Days of joy came again. In 1852 their home 
was once more gladdened by the birth of another 
daughter. In this beautiful child the joy was no 
less great than that at the birth of Rachel. 

In due time the child was christened, Sarah 
Ellen Conselyea. She passed through the ordeal 
of childhood without any peculiar trials, was full 
of sprightliness and vitality, and possessed an en- 



22 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

tirely different disposition from that of the sweet 
one gone before. 

In September, 1853, shadows darkened the 
home again. The good, the generous, noble- 
hearted Mr. William K. Newton, suddenly, with 
a stroke of apoplexy, passed from time to eter- 
nity. The blow on the family was very severe. 
A great man had fallen, and the profoundest re- 
spect was shown to his memory at the funeral. 
The most perfect military honors were paid to 
the departed. The effect upon Mrs. Newton was 
to soften her nature, and cause her to cling more 
closely to her children. 




CHAPTER III. 



NEW STRUGGLES IN LIFE. 




|HE church of Mr. Van Cott's choice, and 
of which he had been a member from his 
youth, was distant from their home about 
one mile. Not being able to attend services here 
but once a clay, Sabbath afternoons and evenings 
were not occupied. The Episcopal minister, Rev. 
Charles Reynolds, called and suggested the hold- 
ing of services, and asked where a place could be 
obtained. 

" I can get the ball-room in the hotel," spoke 
Mrs. Van Cott, knowing full well that the owner, 
Colonel William Conselyea, would grant such a 
request. 

At once the minister left an appointment for 
religious services on Sabbath afternoons, if the 
friends would assist in getting a congregation. 
This they promised to do, and also practice sing- 
ing, so as to assist in that part of the services. 
Colonel C, Mr. Van Cott and wife, and a few 
others, worked hard on the chants, none having 

23 



24 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

any knowledge of the usual method of procedure, 
save Mrs. Van Cott. When the time arrived, 
some seventy-five attentive listeners were present, 
and with borrowed prayer-books, the exercises 
commenced. 

The meetings were continued until a vestry 
was formed and a church edifice erected ; but in 
less than two years the meetings were discontin- 
ued, and the building sold to the Baptists. The 
same singers were invited to continue and furnish 
music for the new denomination. Faithfully, 
twice a day, for one year, they continued in this 
good work. At last there came a minister, who 
definitely informed the people that on the next 
Sabbath he would administer the Sacrament of 
the Lord's-Supper, and he wanted it distinctly 
understood that no outsiders should partake, be- 
cause they had not been baptized. This raised a 
first-class commotion, immediately, among the 
singers, who, save two or three, were members, in 
good standing, in other Churches. A Methodist 
church was near by, which, for some reason, had 
been locked up for nearly a year, and the subject 
was discussed of starting meetings there again. 

The Colonel wondered some at Mrs. Van Cott's 
zeal, and made sport of the whole affair — of their 
singing for two different sects, and now trying a 
third. But she plainly informed him that it was 



NE IV S TR UG GLES IN LIFE. 2 5 

her intention to have him become religious, 
though at that time she knew nothing of a change 
of heart herself. He was a perfect gentleman in 
appearance, but now and then a bad oath would 
escape his lips, which was sure to give him some 
uneasiness. 

The newly-formed society flourished gloriously, 
and in a short time there were several powerful 
revivals held. The Colonel became deeply inter- 
ested in the meetings, and at last, after a severe 
bereavement of a son, in his old age, he gave his 
heart to God. The ball and bar rooms passed 
into other hands, while he became a valiant de- 
fender of the cause of Christ. 

About this time the dry-goods store was placed 
in the hands of Mrs. Van Cott, and it was stocked 
anew with finer and better articles, while her hus- 
band devoted his whole time to taking orders for 
drug houses. The dreadful cough still lingered, 
and he frequently spoke of the pressure upon his 
lungs. One night in September he awoke with 
violent hemorrhage, and the frightened wife ran 
for the doctor, who promptly answered the call. 
As the skillful man entered the house, she cried 

" O, doctor, Peter will die before morning !" 

" It would be a blessed thing for him," he re- 
plied, knowing that intense suffering awaited him 
if life was spared for a few months only. . She 

5 



26 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

watched nervously beside him all that night ; her 
loved one, her idol, not allowed to speak, while 
darkness, gloom, and the horrors of desolation 
filled her soul. 

The morning dawned, bringing no relief. The 
hemorrhage continued, causing still greater pros- 
tration, till he was unable to speak above a whis- 
per. When the doctor came he spoke of the 
changes the sufferer would undergo, and asked 
the sorrowing wife, " Will you then believe ? 
Eight days from now the blood will change to a 
brick color ; eight days more, and it will assume 
a pink, and thus will wear off by degrees." These 
changes all came in the regular time, as stated ; 
and seeing, she believed. As one by one the 
symptoms improved, she exclaimed, in joyful hope, 
" He will live !" 

Then, for the first time, it occurred to her that 
the finances must be looked after. Business had 
just been started, some debts incurred, and the 
payments must be met. She said nothing about 
her plans to the afflicted one, for he was too weak 
to even listen to business matters ; but she re- 
vealed them to her father-in-law, who said, " Now, 
do n't you have any anxiety ; as long as I have a 
dollar it shall be yours." But this did not satisfy 
her independent, anxious spirit. How were mat- 
ters to be run? The store, indeed, brought in 



NE W STRUGGLES IN LIFE. 27 

enough for the household expenses, but notes and 
accounts were coming due. She dreamed over it, 
and it was upon her mind night and day for two 
months. Meanwhile, her husband began slowly 
and feebly to recover, and was able to talk over 
the cares now pressing upon them. She hushed 
him, saying, " You must now leave those matters 
to me." 

Every possible plan was thought over, and at 
last one seemed to satisfy. She dared not men- 
tion it to her husband, for fear of his disapproval, 
until it was all arranged. They owned a very 
good horse and rockaway carriage ; the latter was 
arranged with a series of boxes and drawers, and 
a seat for the driver. She knew her husband had 
been dealing with John S. Seabury, wholesale 
druggist, of Jamaica, L. L, to whom they were 
much indebted. She employed a young lad of 
about sixteen to drive, and when all things were 
ready, the night previous to her engaging as a 
" Yankee peddler," she broke the intelligence to 
her husband and the family. The poor sufferer 
burst into tears, and the father-in-law said, "It 
must not be." She replied, " Never mind, pa ; do 
not say any thing about it. I can not sit down 
idle ; the family must be supported." 

This was, indeed, in strange contrast with the 
scenes of early life, when every want had been 



28 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

anticipated, and the burdens borne by other 
hands. She now felt, for the first time, life's 
great cares, and, nothing daunted, determined to 
meet them heroically. 

The weather was getting bitterly cold, and the 
troubles before the poor invalid caused him many 
tears. The wife well knew how the undertaking 
w r ould sting her high-spirited mother, and grieve 
her own loved one ; but there was no alternative, 
the debts could, and must be paid. The home 
was comfortable, but the daily wants had to be 
supplied. 

The evening was not without its contrast. 
Mrs. Van Cott broke out in singing ; and though 
her heart felt the whole responsibility of the com- 
ing day, yet she had determined to make the 
trial, no matter how severe. Peter was grieved 
beyond all description, and the sorrow of his heart 
affected his body. When they retired he soon 
fell asleep ; then came the moments of reflection 
to her, who was about to confront life's great re- 
alities. Whenever the pride of her heart would 
arise she thought of him upon whom the hand of 
affliction was laid, and she could not, would not, 
shrink from the task. 

The night passed in deep trials, and when the . 
morning came, swollen eyes told too plainly that 
she had not passed a single moment in sleep. 



NEW STRUGGLES IN LIFE. 29 

The hour of action came ; the air was keen and 
cutting, and its rudeness never felt so sensibly be- 
fore. The relatives tried still to dissuade her 
from the undertaking. 

" Give it up, it is a bitter cold morning, and you 
will perish," said the mother-in-law. 

" Not I," was the response, " it will make me 
healthy, my cheeks rosy, and I will be ever so 
handsome when I come back." 

Breakfast being called, she had no relish for 
food, and between tears, joys, and laughing, she 
spent a few moments before the boy arrived at the 
door with the carriage. A pang struck her heart 
as she passed the door, and her eyes fell on the 
icy pavement. As they drove away, she turned 
and looked back, and there at the window stood 
her husband, his face the very picture of sorrow. 
She threw him a kiss, and with a hearty laugh, 
turned, and was again alone with her thoughts. 
That was a moment of keen sorrow. All the 
reminiscences of life unrolled like a panorama, the 
hot tears fell, and with clasped hands she prayed 
to God for strength in this hour of trial, knowing 
the step taken was just and right. 

Seven weary miles brought them to Jamaica. 
Then came the fiery ordeal to tell her purposes to 
strangers. As she entered the store of Mr Sea- 
bury he met her, took the shivering hand, saying, 



30 MA'S. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

" Come to the fire, Mrs. Van Cott, it is a frosty 
morning." But the ice was on her heart, and she 
scarcely felt the outward cold. In a moment 
more her feelings overcame her, and for some time 
the quivering lips and tears told of the struggle 
within. She considered this weakness, and to ac- 
complish her purpose she must be brave. Chok- 
ing down the tears, she began : 

" Mr. Seabury, we are much indebted to you, 
and we want to get out of debt ; and I know of no 
better way than for me to take up the business of 
' filling orders/ " 

He replied, " There is much danger accompa- 
nying it, and you will be liable to insult." 

This touched her dignity, and she answered 
quickly, " God will never allow any one to insult 
me when I am doing my duty." 

The truth uttered then was not changed or 
marred in the least during all subsequent life. 

Several hours were spent in selecting some four 
or five hundred dollars' worth of goods, and the 
boy packed them away in the cases and boxes in 
the buggy. As she was retiring, the merchant 
said, 

" If you do n't succeed bring the goods to me, 
and I will take them off from your hands." 

She replied, " You pray for me, and I zvill suc- 
ceed." 



NE W STR UG GLES IN LIFE, 3 1 

He, doubtless, believed in prayer, as he was a 
Methodist, though a little on the stingy order. 

And now, all equipped, she turned toward the 
field of labor. Strange thoughts thronged her 
mind. The deep anguish of the moment no pen 
or tongue can ever describe. From the costly 
mansion, where want had ever been a stranger, 
and sorrows never came, she was now in the cold, 
rude world, on a common peddler's wagon. God 
leads his children through unexpected paths. 
Was he fitting her for adversity, and deeper trials 
yet to come ? 

She drove on, but the frozen ground was but a 
poor emblem of the winter in her heart. With 
thoughts of husband, babe, and loved ones at 
home, the bony finger of want pointing toward 
the household, and with a zeal quenchless in the 
severest trials, she passed on. Seeing some drug- 
stores, and not knowing but what they dealt in 
patent medicines, she resolved to make her first 
efforts for a sale. As she entered and introduced 
herself and business, she was recognized ; a rela- 
tive of her husband kept the store, and treated 
her with the greatest respect. They took a large 
bill of goods, and as she departed, they said, 
" We will wait for your coming again. We have 
dealt with your husband before, and he took our 
orders, but it is so much better to have the goods 



32 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

ready delivered. Now, be sure and stop at" — 
such and such stores, naming them. In fact, they 
made out a complete route for her travel. As 
she ascended the carriage no greater joy had ever 
thrilled her heart. Victory, complete victory, had 
crowned her very first effort. She made several 
more good sales on the way, and reached home 
about dark. Anxious ones awaited her coming ; 
the loved one at the window, and the aged father- 
in-law came out to greet, and help her from the 
carriage. She sprang into the house, joyous and 
merry, and the warm kiss from her husband re- 
paid all the toils of the long, weary day. Supper 
was waiting. The mother-in-law took off her 
wrappings, smoothed her brow, and said, so 
sweetly, " What a brave girl you are I" Her hus- 
band rubbed the benumbed hands, and thought 
she must be almost dead. Springing from his 
side, she took up the babe, and danced around 
the room in wildest joy. After the glee was over 
they were ready for a hearty supper, for the toils 
of the day had given her a good appetite. She 
had not as yet told any one of her success. 

Supper over, she began by saying, " I guess I '11 
count my profits." Handing the list of sales to 
her husband, and drawing out the well-filled 
purse, she began counting the money received, 
amid the surprised look of her husband, the laugh 



NE W STR UG GLES IN LIFE. 3 3 

of her father-in-law, and the crowing of the babe, 
whose little heart was bounding with delight. 

That noble-hearted Colonel Conselyea called in 
to learn the news. Seeing the money counted 
out he smiled, saying, " See here, Maggie, I guess 
I '11 go into partnership with you." 

" No," was the reply, " I have one, and I am 
afraid he will swamp me." And thus, in jokes 
and glee the evening passed away. 

During this time Mr. Van Gott was quietly 
looking over the sales, and found that his wife had 
made nearly twenty dollars, clear of all expenses. 
It was a complete success, which they all richly 
enjoyed. But there was work still before her. 
New goods must be added to the list, and all 
things in readiness before sunrise. The carriage 
being heavily loaded next morning, she dare not 
ride for fear of breaking the springs. Before ar- 
riving at the Battery, in New York, she had 
walked about four miles. Here they took a ferry- 
boat for Staten Island, where the work of the day 
was to commence. During that trip of nine miles 
she became deathly sea-sick, one of the hands on 
the boat rendering her all the assistance possible. 
Arriving at the first drug-store, she was still so 
sick as hardly to be able to state her business. 
She continued her walk from place to place till 
faint from want of food, having taken nothing 



34 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

since the early breakfast. It was two, P. M., be- 
fore reaching a hotel, where dinner was ordered. 
Here they tarried, the forenoon's work proving too 
severe for any further proceedings. 

Another direction was taken next day, even to 
the extreme end of the island, returning to the 
same hotel in the evening. 

On the third morning they started for home, 
taking a different direction in crossing New York 
Bay, and not being under shelter, she was terri- 
bly chilled with the cold blast as she sat in the 
open carriage. Arriving at home, there was great 
wondering about the three long days of absence, 
the longest she had ever been away from her fam- 
ily. Innumerable questions were asked ; the 
Colonel coming in, of course, to learn the news. 
She was too much exhausted with cold to say any 
thing, but being restored, the usual scenes of joy 
were again enacted. 

Sitting down at supper, the Colonel was impa- 
tient, and broke in, saying, " Come, come, tell us 
how you have been getting along ; how much 
have you sold, so I may know whether to hire you 
or not ?" He waited patiently till after supper, 
then wanted to see how she had succeeded in 
filling the wallet during her three days' absence. 
Mr. Van Cott and the Colonel counted over the 
money. The latter seeing how well she had done, 



NE W STR UGGLES IN LIFE. 3 5 

exclaimed, "Why, Maggie, you are a rouser!" 
The poor invalid husband was melted to tears as 
he scanned the sales, and found that his wife had 
made over sixty-three dollars during the trip. 
They all insisted that she should rest now for a 
few days. The extra fatigue, coupled with the 
intense cold, had prostrated her somewhat, and 
made their persuasions very acceptable. She 
took a little inventory of the stock left, and thus 
closed the memorable week. 

Sabbath came, that holy day of rest, and the 
songs and ministrations of the sanctuary were 
sweeter than usual. Monday morning she was 
again on the way to Jamaica, where she took up 
some of the former notes, laid in a fresh stock of 
goods, and struck out on a new route on Long 
Island. She visited, during this week, Hemp- 
stead, Flushing, Newton — her old home — Mas- 
peth, Greenpoint, Ringwood, New Lotts, Cornau- 
sie, Gravesend, Coney Island, Flatbush, and a 
portion of Brooklyn. It was a successful week ; 
business prospered, and she was able to reach 
home every night. 

Resting two weeks, she passed over the same 
grounds again, and these places became her regu- 
lar field of labor. Once in four weeks, during the 
entire Winter, she visited all of the drug-stores, 
and supplied them with goods. In the month of 



36 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN C0T1\ 

May Mr. Van Cott was so far improved as to be 
able to attend to the business himself, and let his 
wife remain in the store. 

About this time a great furor was raging about 
sewing-machines, and especially the Wheeler and 
Wilson's. She waited on her brother-in-law, 
asked for a hundred-dollar check, went over to 
New York city, purchased a machine, returned 
home, and could not, by any possible way, make 
it work. Among the embarrassments, her foot 
was not accustomed to the motion of the machine, 
and in this she succeeded only after practicing 
awhile on her mother-in-law's old spinning-wheel. 

Then for sewing; she applied to the store, 
asked for linen to make shirt-bosoms, returned 
with three great pieces, and cut out, folded and 
stitched five dozen before the next evening. But 
the task was so severe she was nearly prostrated 
under the new strain of unusual work. But the 
excitement was up, and she determined to pur- 
chase another machine, hire help, and make sew- 
ing a regular business. In a few days she pur- 
chased a third machine, going in debt for the last 
two, obtained work in abundance, and using the 
back room of the store, it became a perfect hive 
of buzzing machines. Then came a proposition 
from the New York dealers to make her an agent, 
offering ten dollars for each machine she might 



NEW STRUGGLES IN LIFE. 37 

sell. Within ten days she sold ten machines, be- 
sides the three she had purchased for herself. 
Thus she made a clear hundred dollars, and kept 
the girls running the three machines in the store. 
Mr. Tibbells, the New York general agent, then 
refused to give her more than five dollars for each 
one sold. This she thought decidedly unjust, after 
the first plain bargain which he had made with 
her ; she left his sales-room, never to sell another 
machine, for he certainly had not kept his word. 
Giving her whole attention now to sewing, she 
cleared a thousand dollars during the next nine 
months. But the strain on her system was so 
great, that she had a fit of sickness at the close 
of the season. 

•About the end of the second year she sold the 
machines for nearly what she gave for them, and 
quit the business. The Jews had entered into 
competition, and the prices fell from one dollar to 
thirty cents per dozen, and there was no money 
to be made at these rates. 

A year passed, when her husband, in talking 
over business matters one day, spoke of the in- 
creased price of goods bought of Mr. Seabury, 
which, of course, lessened their income. This 
the aspiring wife could not endure, but her im- 
pulsive nature at once suggested, " My dear, why 
not put up your own goods?" 



38 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

"You know I am absent from home the most 
of my time, and it would be impossible/' he re- 
plied. 

" Well, where 's your wife ?" 

" My wife has already more than her share, and 
I do n't want her to be a slave. No, no, some- 
thing will come about." 

Here the subject was dropped, so far as words 
were concerned, but new plans were in the mind 
of the wife all night long. In dreams she saw 
sundry oils, essences, extracts, and casks of per- 
fumery, all ready for the wholesale trade. 

When morning came her husband took his de- 
parture for a three weeks' trip. As soon as he 
was gone she fixed up and started for New York 
on business. Being well acquainted with several 
large drug houses, through transactions of former 
years, she called on Bush, Gale & Robinson, 
Greenwich-street, and asked, playfully, of Mr. 
R., if he ever objected to giving any thing that 
cost him nothing. 

" No," he replied. 

" Please let me have a sheet of foolscap paper, 
and sit down here by the desk and give me in 
plain terms the United States formula for mak- 
ing a barrel of laudanum." 

The good-natured gentleman smiled, took his 
seat, but replied, " I see what you are driving at. 



NEW STRUGGLES IN LIFE. 39 

I can sell it to you cheaper than you can make 
it, as we buy opium at first cost." 

"Excuse me, sir, but is that what I asked for? 
I do not want your goods, I want my own." 

" But you never compounded drugs, and there 
is quite a knack in it." 

"All right, I like that. I do n't believe I am 
more stupid than other people, and if they can 
do it so can I, so there it ends. Now, if you are 
too stingy to give them to me, I do n't care. I 
will go to Charley Curtis ; he will do it, and then 
you will be real sorry, I know you will." 

He laughed heartily, and went to work writing 
out carefully the desired formulas. In less than 
one hour she held in her hand a trophy in the 
way of recipes for essences, extracts, laudanum, 
paregoric, Godfrey's Cordial, pomade, bear's oil, 
hair tonic, etc., and was quite jubilant over her 
good success. 

In a few moments she commenced her orders, 
barrels of alcohol, Cologne spirits, castor oil, 
olive oil, and then essential oils, dye-stuffs, bot- 
tles, corks, until the woman had purchased hun- 
dreds of dollars' worth of stock. The goods were 
sent by trucks to her home in Brooklyn, while 
she spent some time at the printer's, ordering 
thousands of labels, thence to the box-mak- 
er's, where a large order was given, before she 



40 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

returned home. It was about dark when, with 
head and heart full of her new enterprise, she 
reached her residence. Not a word was spoken 
of the business of the day. 

As the family gathered around the well-spread 
board for which her home was noted, one could 
by a glance at her face tell that there was mis- 
chief somewhere. Before the repast was finished 
heavily loaded trucks stopped, a heavy knock at 
the store-door, and the sturdy driver cried, 
"Goods for Mrs. Peter P. Van Cott." By this 
time, almost bursting with laughter, the culprit 
hastened, in answer to the mother-in-law's call, 
" What upon airth does this mean ?" She an- 
swered, " Nothing, only change of business," and 
at once set about giving orders how barrels and 
boxes were to be adjusted so as to be easy of 
access, while ever and anon a merry laugh would 
be heard as she caught a glance of her mother- 
in-law's woeful face. At last the goods were all 
in shape, the truckman paid, and the door closed 
for the night. 

All returned to the sitting-room, when the 
mother-in-law could hold in no longer, and, be- 
ing number one on a big scold, she commenced : 
" You 're the most venturesomest woman I ever 
saw. You '11 be the ruin of your husband ; and 
how dreadful it will be to have the fair name 



NEW STRUGGLES IN LIFE. 41 

of Van Cott blighted by your headlong folly! 
Mercy ! mercy ! child, will you ever be wise ? 
How upon airth can you make all those things 
that wise people take a life-time to larn ? O, 
dear, I dread to see poor Peter come home ! 
How will you ever pay the bills, and they must 
be paid ? O, dear, I am almost wild !" 

All this time in one corner of the room sat 
the new wholesale druggist, wondering how she 
should adjust the faucets, and cut the opium, 
and the various things that were pressing upon 
her brain so rapidly, when the mother-in-law's 
last sentence caught her ear, and she cried, " So 
am I almost wild to think how' I will surprise 
Peter." 

" Yes, but suppose you spoil the goods ?" 

" I do n't intend to spoil the goods ; that is 
not the way I do business. Now, do be good, 
and please do not scold any more. It will not 
help me one bit, and I want to think, so, if you 
love me, please don't scold any more." 

But it was of no use ; the dear soul was so 

afraid of wrong doing that she could not give it 

up. The only refuge for Mrs. Van Cott was to 

retire to her own room, where she might think, 

contrive, and plan for the great work before her. 

Sleep calmed her disturbed powers, and in after 

life she saw in all of these trials a guiding hand 

6 



42 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

developing and calling forth energies that would 
be required in future time. 

In the morning she scarcely knew where to 
begin work. There were barrels, boxes, in fact 
a store full of goods of a new kind to take care 
of. After breakfast she referred to the formulas 
given by Mr. Robinson, and carefully read them 
over, when soon they appeared like old, familiar 
friends. She found that the laudanum and par- 
egoric must stand fourteen days to be brought 
to perfection ; so common sense told her this was 
her first work. Long before the many pounds 
of opium were cut her poor fingers were in blis- 
ters, but, nothing daunted, she still applied all 
her energies to her task. The aged father-in-law 
ever stood ready to help his " smartest woman- 
child in all the world," as he cheerilv called her. 
Before night a barrel of laudanum and one of 
paregoric had been mixed as the first day's work. 
But O, how the blistered fingers burned and 
ached ! Yet with a happy heart she took sup- 
per, and spent the evening singing with Colonel 
Conselyea and daughter. 

During the evening strange thoughts would 
now and then come. " It may not be good ;" 
"There may have been a fearful mistake in the 
compounds." But had she not followed the 
formula to the very letter, and there could be no 



NEW STRUGGLES IN LIFE. 43 

mistake ? She did it, too, for the benefit of her 
dear ones, and God knew it. 

Returning home at nine, she was met by her 
mother-in-law, saying, " I should think you was 
tired enough to have rested at home, and not rais- 
ing the entire neighborhood with your singing." 

" I would like to know who could help singing 
after doing such a day's work, and having such 
nice, blistered fingers, with a prospect of so 
grand a surprise not many days hence when my 
dear husband comes home." 

Before retiring she must see what the next 
day's work was to be, and, running over the 
formulas, found essence of peppermint, essence 
of lemon, and, looking at the simplicity of their 
composition, a happy smile played over her face. 
Day after day she continued the work, till many 
gross of bottles were arranged neatly on the 
shelves, and, as the time drew near for the 
return of her husband, she could scarcely con- 
tain herself. The last day's work was done ; 
the hour arrived when the dear one would be at 
home. Supper was waiting, and she dressed just 
to his liking, and, with needle-work in hand and 
throbbing heart, sat at the .window, while now 
and then a heavy sigh burst from the burdened 
mother-in-law's soul, as if the weight of an 
empire was upon her. Suddenly the husband 



44 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

appeared. She bounded to the door and into his 
arms, shouting, laughing, kissing, and dancing 
with glee. Following her came baby girl, and 
then mother-in-law, as if just in from a funeral, 
and with a sad moan, said, " Well, dear boy, are 
you alive ?" 

"Alive !" shouted the joyful wife, " ha ! ha ! of 
course he is ! And are n't I happy ? Do n't you 
love me ? Are n't you tired ? Do n't you want 
supper ? Got your favorite pound-cake. Fingers 
so blistered could not make it myself." 

In an instant his eye caught the goods labeled 
" P. P. Van Cott, essence peppermint, laudanum, 
paregoric," etc., when a look of mingled dismay, 
fear, doubt, and yet pleasure swept with a stroke 
across his face. She knew and felt keenly that 
they were to compete with one whose standing 
and reputation was not to be trifled with. The 
goods were well made, and would certainly stand 
the severest test. 

No supper was tasted until they were thor- 
oughly examined by the keen senses of the well- 
posted husband, while the wife looked on during 
the severe test. The mother groaned, and the 
father " reckoned " there had been " pains enough 
taken to make them good." At last a smile 
came, and judgment passed, " Good as need or 
can be, but who showed you how?" The story 



NEW STRUGGLES IN LIFE. 45 

was then rehearsed, and the wife was triumph- 
ant. The mother groaned out, " Think you can 
sell them, deary?" 

" Sell them ? Of course he can ! He sells 
such goods every day." 

Thus the surprise and joyful result. The first 
bill of goods sold they made nearly double the 
profits they would have made had goods been 
bought of Mr. Seabury. 

Now things began to look bright ; the gloom 
had passed away. But, alas ! how fleeting and 
short-lived are all of earth's joys ! With pros- 
perity came a longing for light amusements in 
the heart of the flashing, dashing Maggie New- 
ton Van Cott. Her sister-in-law and her hus- 
band were very worldly people, fond of the 
theater and opera, and during Mr. Van Cott's 
absence much of her time was spent with them. 
She soon acquired a passion for the opera in 
particular, having a strong thirst for music. 
Then came masked parties, surprise parties, and, 
indeed, gayeties without end, not, however, to 
the neglect of home duties or business. 

Thus, between work and pleasure, one con- 
tinued round of excitement was kept up. Her 
husband being away so much, she had ample 
time for folly. When he was at home he did not 
care to mingle much with the gay throng. His 



46 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

health was slowly declining, and during his stay 
at home no place was half so attractive, and 
nothing could induce his wife to leave his side. 

Another shadow crept down over their happy 
home, for happy indeed it was, their wants and 
wishes all supplied, but the cloud came. The 
father, whose mind had long been weak, began 
to show signs of obstinacy, persevering in that 
which was positively hurtful and wrong. The 
true malady was softening of the brain, which 
would eventually end in madness. Now came 
the trial. Where could he be kept, in the mad- 
house or asylum ? His own daughter thought 
best to place him in the latter, but Maggie had 
visited that place, and, having seen the horrors, 
said " no." She could not bear the thought of 
a cruel nurse striking that man who had so ten- 
derly cared for her little ones, or use any force 
to restrain him. She looked upon that noble 
brow, and thought, " I, too, will soon be old." 

Then the burden of caring for him must fall 
upon her. For two long years, night and day, 
the ravings of that madman were endured. 
When the terrible paroxysms were upon him, 
by pure physical force he must be bound and 
placed in a strait-jacket made of heavy ducking 
cloth. Thus secured, next came the means to 
subdue the madness and quiet the angry brain. 



NEW STRUGGLES IN LIFE. 47 

Nothing was more successful than singing. A 
few of the good old-fashioned hymns and tunes 
would soon have the desired effect. 

Those weary years made deep impressions. 
Why had it thus been ordered ? No one in that 
house could master the raving maniac save her. 
The poor husband, scarcely able at times to lift 
his head at night, must not approach him. One 
blow from that dreadful fist would have landed 
him in eternity. She grappled with him night 
and day, threw him down, tied his hands and 
feet, but not always without scars and blows 
received. Hundreds of times she felt the weight 
of his strokes. Once she fell perfectly senseless, 
and often for days she bore on her person large, 
dark bruises. 

This was the dreadful training-school where 
those giant physical powers were developed. 
Often as she clutched the maniac by the wrists 
in his dreadful contortions, when bound, she 
found the skin from his wrists in the palms 
of her hands. Thus she was mysteriously 
tried in order to stand the heavy toils of after 
years. 

Time and again, during those fearful years, 
while burdened with the cares of home, the sick- 
room, and the wild ravings of the madman, did 
the convicting Spirit of God rest upon her. Often 



48 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

while singing the songs of Zion, and especially 
that of 

"Vital spark of heavenly flame," etc., 

did she hear the Spirit say, " Sister spirit, come 
away from the world of gayety and fashion." 
"Give me thine heart" was frequently pressed by 
the Divine Spirit, when the troubled man had 
been bound and sweetly sung to sleep. Like all 
things of earth, even sorrow will give way — so 
in this case. On the 17th of August, 1863, the 
troubled man slept with his fathers. Sabbath 
noon he was stricken with death, and remained 
unconscious until Monday night at 10 o'clock. 
His eyes had been closed during all this time; 
but a little before his death he opened and fixed 
them on Maggie, and there death sealed them. 

In spite of her best endeavors she could never 
forget that dying look; it haunted her night and 
day — though in after months she sought to drive 
it, with the deeper impressions of the Spirit of 
God, away. Once more entering the gay scenes 
of life, even amid the merry laugh or dance, she 
would see those glaring eyes. 

A year rolled away. She strove to be happy 
and gay ; but the charms of the world had a dead- 
ness about them, for plainly her quick eye caught 
sight of another cloud in the distance. She strove 
to battle against it; but still it came, and again 



NEW STRUGGLES IN LIFE. ' 49 

her heart was torn and bleeding. Her husband 
was again on a bed of languishing, and, as she 
kept her lonely vigils, the gentle voice of her 
God — her oft-insulted Lord — whispered, " Daugh- 
ter, give me thine heart." At last, sorrow stricken, 
and almost dying with anguish, she cried out, 
"Give me my darling back to health and I will 
serve thee." The proviso was not God's way, and 
she could do no more. O the agony, the heart- 
breaking anguish, the ceaseless cry, "Only give 
me my darling one !" — when the voice of God 
plainly spake, "I am a jealous God; thou shalt 
have no other gods before me." Still that rebell- 
ious, suffering heart would not yield. As her 
afflicted companion moaned wearily on his pillow, 
she saw that the last great battle was soon to be 
fought, and, looking around, she felt that all life's 
cares must fall upon her — family, business, indeed 
all. The thought almost crushed her; but for 
his sake, she cried, " I can do it." 

During the next few days she conceived a 
plan of moving her business from Brooklyn to 
New York city. After due thought, and a few 
days intervening, she made known the plan to 
the sufferer. At first it was not approved; but 
she insisted upon making an office in New 
York city, and sending circulars to their mer- 
chants. 



SO MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

"But the rents," suggested the husband; "they 
are so heavy in the business part of the city." 

"Well, let us try; if it is right God will open 
up some way." 

As soon as he was able to walk a little they 
visited the city, and, while he was snugly seated 
in one of the drug houses, she flew from one 
point to another. Few places were to be found, 
and rents were from $800 to $1,000 a year, for 
small, out-of-the-way places. This, her good judg- 
ment taught her, they could not stand. At last, 
weary and sad, a bright idea came. She remem- 
bered that a friend of theirs had been engaged as 
the head of a new drug house in Dey-street, and 
that they had a lease of the beautiful brown-stone 
front, at a very, very low figure. At once they de- 
termined to go and see Charlie Curtis. Being 
well acquainted with the gentleman, she at once 
told her desire to rent a part of one of their floors 
as an office, and that at the lowest figures possible. 
Mr. C. was well aware of the life-struggles of the 
lady and her afflicted husband, but said, 

" I do n't believe Mr. M'Donald will agree to it ; 
but you can go and look at the rooms, and I will 
intercede for you." 

Slowly the sick one ascended the stairway, and 
found a room 28 by 82 feet, but looking very un- 
inviting, as it was stored with a great many barrels 



NE W STRUG GLES IN LIFE. 5 I 

of beans — on one of which he sat and wept, 
while his wife expatiated on how splendidly it 
could be fitted up for an office and laboratory. 
They finally determined to take it, if the rent 
could be met. Still he persisted, "You had 
better not commence this undertaking, dear ; it is 
too much for you." 

She replied, " I do not see any other way for 
me to do, and I '11 do it." As they arose to de- 
scend, she said, "Come on carefully, dear, and 
I '11 go on." Below she was introduced to Mr. 
M' Donald, who very politely said, 

"We do not care to have any one with us ; but 
Mr. Curtis has told me of your situation, and I 
feel I must consent." 

She then asked as to the rent. 

" Set your own figures," was the reply. 

This was more than she felt at liberty to do — 
still she named a sum — all they dared to assume. 

" 'T is more than I should have charged," re- 
plied the noble-hearted Charlie, while she burst 
into tears, and could but thank God for opening 
the way for their business ; and, commending the 
firm to the care and blessing of high Heaven, they 
departed. 

Reaching home in the afternoon, the husband 
was found to be quite prostrated, and a flush of 
fever came on. Slowly, as strength would permit, 



52 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

he assisted her in getting a list of the merchants 
they had visited, in order to send to them circu- 
lars of their business and new office. This occu- 
pied their time for several days ; and- while she 
was away in the city the mother cared for her 
slowly failing son. Each day, at an early hour, 
the busy wife hastened to the great city ; super- 
intended the workmen in regard to shelves, coun- 
ters, tables, etc. These being completed, she set 
about packing the stock at home to be shipped 
over to the city. Great care was necessary in or- 
der that the goods should not be broken ; but her 
fingers were bruised by the rough blows of the 
hammer, or cut by the sharp edges of boards or 
the saw ; still no murmur escaped her lips. She 
was as one without outward feeling ; but down 
deep in her heart there was panting after God and 
his consolation. Ofttimes, when night came on, 
and she had laid aside the coarse tools, she en- 
deavored to wash away the stains of heart strug- 
gles before entering her husband's presence. The 
true language of her soul was about thus : " I 
must have a supporting arm to sustain me ; and, 
Lord, if thou only wilt accept me, and save my 
darling, I will truly serve thee ; for O ! I need 
thy strength." But no acceptance was found, and 
she cried again, "I have been so wicked God 
will not have me for his child, and I can 't help 



NE W STR UGGLES IN LIFE. 5 3 

it ; yet I must be his ; I must have him for my 
strength and guide— -O yes, for my Father and 
my Friend." 

Thus with torn hands and aching heart the days 
of toil were passed, and at night the strongest 
effort put forth to comfort the sick one. One 
hymn was very precious to him, which she often 
sang — " Shall we know each other there ?" — com- 
mencing, 

" When we hear the music ringing, 
In the bright celestial dome," etc. 

This beautiful piece generally spread sunshine 
and good cheer in the sick-room. 

As soon as -a little improvement was seen in 
him they had determined to embrace the oppor- 
tunity for moving, as the goods had already been 
shipped to 41 Dey-street, and circulars sent no- 
tifying the merchants of the change of business 
location. But the time for moving the family had 
not yet come. Each morning at 8 o'clock, after 
merrily kissing her husband and babe, pressing 
mother-in-law's hand, she would leave home, ride 
a mile or two, cross the river, and, in about an 
hour and a half, reach the office. She seldom 
left home without weeping and praying to God, 
scarcely recognizing any one on the way, and 
sometimes seemed quite oblivious to the sur- 
roundings. 



54 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

At last business grew dull, and she had ample 
time for meditation, when calmly she asked her- 
self, "Does the world afford you a ray of joy? 
Are you happy in sin ? Would you wish to die 
as you now live ? What do you gain by sinning 
against God ? And then, if your husband should 
die, what would sustain you in the severe trial ?" 
These, and similar questions, passed through her 
mind some five or six days, while her heart was 
indeed wretched enough. 

One morning, while on the way to the office, 
and crossing Fulton-street ferry, she heard plainly 
the voice of her Savior, saying, "You must de- 
cide to-day. 'Now is the accepted time; behold, 
now is the day of salvation/ Why longer delay ?" 
With the crowd she passed unconsciously from 
the boat, and, having some business in John- 
street, walked slowly onward. Suddenly, as if 
awakening from a dream, with her heart trusting, 
praying, believing, she cried out, "Lord, if thou 
wilt accept the sacrifice, I from this moment give 
thee my body and soul. I will be wholly thine, 
and, by thy grace, I will never turn back." That 
moment she stood on the pavement in front of 
old John-Street Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
from heaven light streamed in upon her soul. 
She was soundly, powerfully converted. Before 
reaching the office Satan suggested, "But God 



NEW STRUGGLES IN LIFE. 55 

will take your husband away." To which she re- 
plied, " ' Though he slay me, yet will I trust in 
him/ Yea, I will praise him ; for he is my God. 
Glory be to his holy name !" 

Business went on that day splendidly. Large 
orders came in ; joyous songs of praise filled the 
laboratory ; and, though no word concerning the 
new-found treasure was spoken, yet the persons 
around her noticed the bright look of heavenly 
peace that found its way from the happy heart to 
the sunny face. Now the strong arm of an All- 
sustaining power helped her to bear the great 
burdens of life. 




CHAPTER IV. 



EXULTANT JOY, 




1HE long morning and evening journeys, 
together with the work at the office, soon 
began to tell unfavorably upon the un- 
complaining wife. Pale cheeks and a weary look 
were the first arguments for breaking up house- 
keeping, and going to boarding. Mrs. Contrell, 
the sister-in-law, in New York city, offered them 
comfortable rooms, so that the long delay of some 
three hours of daily travel would be obviated. 

But now came a struggle ; the mother and son 
had never been separated, and this bad to be, as 
the mother positively refused to live in the noisy 
city. Then came the sale of household goods, 
and the parting with associations endeared by so 
many happy years. 

After a few days' delay they were snugly settled 
in their new home, where she could more fully 
attend to the sick one, when not engaged at the 

56 



EXULTANT JOY. 57 

office, or attending the house of God. After 
a little rest, Mr. Van Cott was able again to 
travel over a limited part of the route of New 
Jersey, and take orders. But the business moved 
too slowly, and Mrs. Van Cott once more visited 
the firm of Gale & Robinson, proposing to bottle 
their goods, such as extracts, oils, and even the 
dangerous benzine. They were very glad to give 
her the job, and soon great wagon loads of casks, 
cases of bottles and corks, were in the room, and 
work was commenced in good earnest. 

The demand was so great that with all the help 
at her disposal she could not fill the orders. 
Two boys unpacked and washed the bottles ; she 
filled them, while others corked, wiped, and 
labeled, and one careful hand repacked. Fifteen 
gross was the usual day's work, but varied some- 
what, according to the size of the bottles. The 
benzine was very difficult, indeed, to prepare. 
Over each cork a piece of moistened bladder must 
be tied ; and there, all day long, at that table, 
with piles of soaking bladders from the slaughter- 
house before her, she sat cutting, tying, and 
handling them till her hands became completely 
saturated with the unpleasant odor, so that the 
most powerful of Lubin's extracts would not de- 
stroy it. 

Another firm, on Broad-street, wanted her to 
7 



58 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

mix, roll, and cut pills, by the half-bushel. She 
increased her force, and took the order. It was 
no small undertaking, but this kind of work was 
her delight. The room became a busy work- 
shop, and sounded all day long like a protracted 
meeting, as she led the boys and girls in holy 
song. The hours flew swiftly and very pleas- 
antly, and the hands declared that that room was 
the happiest place to them on earth. Frequently 
the clerks from the drug-store below came up 
and spent their noonday hour, talking on the 
great theme of salvation. She usually had a short 
season of prayer with them, all bowing reverently 
before God. 

One cold, snowy day, being obliged to take a 
large package of pills to the Broad-street firm, 
and settle some accounts, she passed through 
Fulton-street. So terrible was the storm, that 
she saw no other lady on the street, when, pres- 
ently, her eye caught the sign of the noonday 
prayer-meeting. Looking at her watch she knew 
she had time to drop in, get a blessing from 
heaven, and reach her desired place of business. 
About forty gentlemen were present, and she the 
only lady. The prayers were glorious, the testi- 
monies grand, and her heart began to feel the 
glow of Jesus' love. Five minutes before one 
o'clock she arose, and occupied three minutes tes- 



EXULTANT JOY. 59 

tifying of the power of Christ to save. She was 
sweetly blest. The meeting closed, and as they 
descended the stairs, she was met by one, who, 
after considerable clearing of his throat, and a 
polite bow, said, "Ah, madam, ah — we — do not — 
ahem" — 

Quick as thought the truth flashed through 
her mind that she was a woman, and had dared to 
speak of her precious Savior in- the presence of 
men. She caught his words, and continued them, 
" You do not permit ladies to speak in your 
meetings." 

" I won't say permit" was the reply, " but it is 
strictly a mens meeting ; and there are plenty of 
places elsewhere where women can speak." 

" I am aware of it, sir, thank God ; but I 
thought I felt the Spirit of the Lord, and I am 
taught that 'where the Spirit of the Lord is there 
is liberty/ Please excuse me, sir ; I will never 
intrude again." 

" O, no intrusion, madam ; come again." 

" Thank you ; I will when I can go nowhere 
else." 

As she passed on, choked with deep emotion, 
a gentleman stepped to her side, and said, 

" Do n't weep, lady ; I know what you have 
passed through ; but they have dealt gently w T ith 
you, I have known them to tell ladies of great 



60 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

refinement and talent to stop and sit down, when 
the room has been full of people ; but as true as 
you live, I feel that that is just what the Fulton- 
street meeting wants, to make it a power greater 
than it ever has been." 

As she reflected over what had just happened, 
she could but feel that her lines had fallen to her 
in pleasant places. 

The subject of prayer was constantly in her 
mind, and made still deeper impressions by the 
following incident : When Mr. Van Cott was 
first taken sick he felt a strong desire to be 
spared a few years to his young family ; and, one 
day, reading of Hezekiah's request for fifteen 
years of life, he, too, asked the same petition, and 
promised the Lord that he would willingly die at 
the expiration of that time. The years flew past, 
and about this time he remembered the,request, 
and how God had heard his prayer. He was 
alone that day, and kneeling before Jehovah, said, 
" O Lord, I am ready now to depart and be with 
thee ; every hour added to my life after this be- 
longeth unto thee." He was spared nearly two 
years more, to suffer, trust, and lean upon God. 

Being now comfortably established in their 
new home, she felt the need of social meetings, 
and was advised to attend the Duane-Street 
Methodist Episcopal Church at their regular 



EXULTANT JOY. 6 1 

Wednesday evening prayer-meetings. Soon after 
entering the room she felt the Spirit of Jesus 
resting upon the good people, and joined heartily 
with them in singing the well-known hymn, 

"Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove," etc. 

She felt the inspiration of these meetings, and 
her rich, full voice swelled in the rapturous 
music, and her soul was lost to all but the pres- 
ence of the Lord. Singing was ever her delight, 
and now, when Christ was in the hymns, they 
were doubly precious. This night she received 
such a blessing that it did seem the earthen ves- 
sel would break and her joyous Spirit soar away. 
While they were at prayer memories came thick 
and fast of how the Savior had knocked for long 
years at the door of her heart, and she had 
refused him admittance. As she sank low before 
the throne weeping, she cried, "Jesus weeps, but 
loves me still." 

Returning home, she was loud in her com- 
mendations of the meeting, and resolved to be a 
regular attendant there whenever it was possible. 
The poor husband could not take so long a walk 
even on Sabbath mornings, but attended the 
Episcopal Church with the whole family once on 
Sundays, after which he remained at home read- 
ing his Bible, while his wife and daughter went 



62 MRS. MAG GTE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

to the Methodist Church in the afternoons or 
evening. Still he was never alone ; one or more 
was always in the house, generally his sister, to 
whom he was very much attached. 

The members of Duane-Street Church soon 
began to recognize the lady who w r as now so 
attentive, and who seemed to enjoy the meet- 
ings. Her name, residence, and occupation were 
learned ; besides, it was known that one of the 
leading members of the Church was a partner in 
business with her brother-in-law as city marshal. 
Mr. Charles Watts very much desired to have 
Mrs. Van Cott attend the Friday night class- 
meeting and lead the singing. Of course, he 
dare not speak to a lady to whom he had never 
been introduced, but, using another as a medium 
of communication, asked Mr. Contrell to carry 
the request. The invitation was received with 
no little surprise, and cast aside with contempt. 
A Methodist class-meeting ! The very last place 
in all the world ! Had not her mother in child- 
hood days told what they were ? Simply places 
where wives congregated to tell of unkind hus- 
bands, and husbands met to tell of contrary 
wives and rebellious children. No, no ; ladies 
did not attend such places. It was indelicate to 
speak thus before gentlemen, and no lady would 
do it. She replied, " Give my compliments to 



EXULTANT JOY. 63 

the gentleman, and tell him I can not come." 
This did not suffice, and the following evening 
the invitation was repeated. At this she became 
quite indignant, particularly as the brother-in-law 
began to tease, annoy, and even vex her about 
the meetings. She sent word that she had no 
desire " to attend confessional at present.' , At 
dinner-time came a third invitation from the ear- 
nest Church member, when the brother-in-law, 
in a fresh tone of sarcasm, said, " I told your 
brother Charlie Watts I should deliver no more 
messages — if he had any thing to say to you, 
he must say it himself — but he replied, ' It will 
be rude in me to speak to the lady, never hav- 
ing been introduced ; you speak to her again 
for me.' " 

Indignant almost to tears, she had not time to 
put her ideas in shape before her husband very 
calmly said, " I should not be tried, darling ; you 
would enjoy a class-meeting, and, if the old gen- 
tleman asks you, if I were you I should go once 
at least." 

She replie'd, " I could not speak ; I should 
faint from fright." 

On the following Sabbath, while the congre- 
gation was gathering, she kept her eyes in an 
opposite direction from brother Watts's pew, but 
before services commenced a slight touch on the 



64 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

shoulder caused her to turn, and beside her stood 
this gentleman. 

" Please excuse me, sister, but I do wish you 
would attend our class-meeting. We are all old 
folks, and can not sing, and you would help us so 
much." 

During this time the hot blood of impatience 
had been coming and going from her cheeks, and, 
with a look bordering on scornful contempt, she 
answered, " I could not be so rude as to speak in 
meeting." 

Many times she thought of this in after years, 
while speaking to listening thousands, and telling 
the story of the Cross. 

He still urged, " If you will only come and 
help us sing, you shall not be asked to speak." 

" I will come and help you sing, but be sure 
that I am not asked to speak." 

" My word for it, you shall not be," he replied. 

Was not the Lord using these persons to lead 
her into a field of greater usefulness ? 

The week rolled away, and many were the 
thoughts concerning the promise she had made. 
That Friday was a day of unusual toil, and she 
was very weary when the office was closed and 
she had reached home. The husband looked at 
his tired wife and said, " Do you know it is 
Friday night, the class-meeting night, my dear?" 



EXUL TANT JO K 65 

" I had entirely forgotten it this evening." 

" Brother Watts has not forgotten it," chimed 
in the brother-in-law. " He has spoken about it 
a dozen times to-day, for he thinks you grand on 
a sing. ,, 

" You will go, won't you ?" continued Mr. Van 
Cott. 

" No, I think not ; I am too tired. I will remain 
at home and read to you." 

" Please, dear, let me advise you to go just this 
once, and see what a class-meeting is, and then 
come and tell me all about it. I shall enjoy that 
better than to have you read to me — go, to 
please me." 

After the evening repast she assisted him to 
bed, put on her bonnet, and wearily made her 
way to the class-room. Tremblingly she entered, 
bowed her head in prayer, then waited patiently 
for the services to commence. The leader, John 
Henry, a saint of God, and often called a " Paul 
of modern times," arose, read a beautiful hymn, 
and all joined heartily, as Mrs. Van Cott led the 
singing. The class was composed of the older 
members of the Church, one being past eighty 
years, but still joyous in vigorous Christian life. 
Prayer was offered by the leader, and then, with 
breathless anxiety, she waited to see what was to 
be done at a class-meeting. The opening address 



66 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

by the leader was excellent — not susceptible of a 
single shadow of objection. It was tender, loving, 
full of gratitude to God for sparing all 'the class 
for another week. After another hymn he ad- 
dressed an aged lady, asking her to tell of the 
good dealings of God. With a sweet, smiling 
face, she arose, and began to bless and praise 
God for the favors she had received during the 
week, and extol his name for the privileges of 
the class-meeting, as it was ever the gateway 
of heaven to her soul. 

" In the Christian's home in glory," etc., 

was sung, and all seemed full of assurance that 
the good old sister was on her way to the land 
of rest. After some half a dozen had spoken, and 
not one word had been said about cross husbands, 
unruly children, or bad neighbors, a change grad- 
ually swept over the mind of the new attendant. 
She began really to enjoy the meeting, and de- 
lighted in this holy communion of saints. Be- 
tween almost every testimony a single stanza of 
a soul-stirring hymn was sung ; and the Spirit 
of Him who promised to be "in the midst," was 
there. The leader passed on, asking one by one 
of their Christian experience, till he came where 
she was sitting. Here he paused, remembering 
the promise not to call upon her to speak, but, 
folding his hands, exclaiming, "I will not ask 



EXULTANT JOY. 67 

you, dear sister, to speak." Then, with a heart 
uplifted in prayer, he said, " God bless our dear 
sister!" A thrill of the most ecstatic joy ran 
through her entire nature, in answer to this short, 
earnest petition — soul and body felt the touch of 
Jesus' power. Several moments ran past — the 
happy soul, flooded with Divine light, was glorify- 
ing the great God of salvation, in and through 
Jesus Christ the Lord. The first moment of full 
consciousness found her in the aisle of the church, 
both hands uplifted, and, with strong, clear voice, 
shouting aloud the victories of the Cross. 

What was this great blessing ? will, doubtless, 
be asked by many. It was none' other than that 
fullness which God has promised, " I will pour 
out of my Spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons 
and your daughters shall prophesy, and your 
young men shall see visions, and your old men 
shall dream dreams ! And on my servants and 
on my handmaidens I will pour out, in those 
days, of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy." She 
seemed perfectly emptied of self, and filled with 
the Spirit of God. Here was the gift of that 
power which overcomes the world. From that 
hour she felt that her lips had been touched as 
with a live coal from the altar of Jehovah. The 
breath of the Lord had blown the spark of divine 
grace into a great flame. This was the beginning 



68 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

of her active Christian life. In the joy of the mo- 
ment the two worlds of grace and glory seemed 
blended together. All past anguish, sorrow, and 
deep trials were forgotten in the blaze of light 
which inwrapped her soul. God had fulfilled his 
promise, and here the forelight of the coming 
morn seemed to burst into noonday splendor. 
Again and again, with clear, strong voice, she 
continued shouting, " Glory to God in the highest ! 
Glory ! glory ! glory 1" The very place seemed 
to be on the inside of that house above, which is 
full of glory. They sang that grand old hymn, 
one line of which was literally true at this time, 

" Tongue can never express the sweet comfort and peace." 

The entire class felt the power of that Spirit 
which, as in other days, " came as a rushing, 
mighty wind, and filled all the house where they 
were sitting. With rapturous joy a few others 
spoke of the love of Jesus ; and thus closed the 
first class-meeting she had ever attended. 

Temptations followed immediately, and the ad- 
versary suggested that there was "no need of tell- 
ing it at home"- — and to this she partly agreed — 
but that she might speak of a "very excellent 
meeting in the church." Entering the sick-room 
the first words that greeted her were, 

"Well, Maggie, how did you enjoy a Methodist 
class-meeting ?" 



EXUL TANT JO K 69 

"Why, Peter, I was never in such a place in all 
my life. It seemed as if the very flame of God 
was there — I tell you it was glorious. I did not 
hear from those ladies one word about any body's 
husband. I like the Methodist class-meeting, and 
brother Watts shall not have to urge me to go 
again, for I am going." 

All through the night the glory of that hal- 
lowed hour was not dimmed — sweet communion, 
joy and praises, came gently and steadily, with the 
passing moments. Every time the sufferer awoke 
he found his happy wife holding delightful inter- 
course with Jesus. Next day he observed the 
great change of a deeper Christian life, as bursts 
of praises rang through the house. All day long, 
in the office, the place seemed more like a pro- 
tracted meeting than a wholesale drug establish- 
ment. Several merchants from the West came 
in the store below, heard the voices above, crept 
softly up the stair-way, and listened to the songs 
of the working-choir in the laboratory. That 
night they were scarcely seated at the table be- 
fore her brother-in-law's voice rang out clear and 
full with, 

" Say, Peter, did you know that we had a Meth- 
odist dominie in the family ?" 

With surprise he looked up and said, 

"No; how?" 



yo MA'S. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN GOTT. 

"Why, brother Watts says Maggie preached 
about twenty minutes last night at the Duane 
Methodist Church. Now we'll be good folks, 
we'll have some one to preach for us in our own 
family." 

She was very much grieved at this, and espe- 
cially the manner in which it was said. But Mr. 
Van Cott replied very calmly, 

"If she never does any thing worse than that 
I will rejoice." 

This gave the sinking heart great courage, and 
she replied firmly, 

" I believe my tongue is my own, John, and I 
will use it when I please, where I please, and as I 
please. Now do n't say any thing more about it." 

This was final, and the subject was not men- 
tioned again. 

The meetings were attended regularly and their 
beneficent effects began to tell on her religious 
life. Through storm and cold, heat and discour- 
agements, she was ever punctual, and her steady 
attendance became a noted example. The good 
leader, though deficient in some things, had an 
abundant store of Scriptural texts for the wants 
of those under his charge, and she leading the 
singing, suited the hymns to the thoughts ex- 
pressed. 

Her evenings were spent at home, save this one 



EXUL TANT JOY. 7 1 

meeting, reading books published by the " Meth- 
odist Book Concern," such as the Lives of Wes- 
ley, Fletcher, Cartwright, Finley, Bishop Asbury, 
Stevens's History of Methodism, and the Bible. 
This was her first course of study, differing 
somewhat from the usual ministerial curricu- 
lum, but, unconscious of the great demands of 
the future, she gained much valuable informa- 
tion, and, above all, the fire of God's love burned 
brightly, and her joy remained unabated. 





CHAPTER V. 

DEEPENING SHADOWS. 

|T was painfully evident that the little re- 
maining strength of Mr. Van Cott was 
ff^ ; l slowly wasting away. The heat of the 
following Summer prostrated him greatly, and 
was followed by several severe spells of hemor- 
rhage. But with giant will he persisted in going 
abroad, taking orders for preparations compounded 
in the laboratory. 

In December a most fearful attack of conges- 
tion on the brain prostrated Mrs. Van Cott. Six 
times the attending physician called in one day, 
and at last said, "There is no hope." Her mind 
wandered and there was a blank in the record of 
her days. But life was spared and in less than 
two weeks she was at work again, though greatly 
weakened by the stroke. 

It was a fixed purpose to fill all of the orders 
sent in, so as not to lose the confidence of the 
trade. After her recovery Mr. Van Cott was 
72 



DEEPENING SHADOWS. 73 

more prostrated than ever. The fangs of the de- 
stroyer had been fixed in his bleeding lungs, and 
for six long weeks he could not take a breath of 
cold air without danger. During all this time a 
double care rested upon the devoted, diligent, 
business wife. In the forenoons she went regu- 
larly to the office, in order to set the hands at 
work; then, when the most important business 
was over, she would return home to help the poor 
sufferer. The moment she left his side in the 
morning, the sunlight seemed to depart from the 
house, and all day long he counted the hours and 
wished for her return. Her cheerful and buoyant 
life strengthened his shattered frame beyond any 
power of the healing art. About the middle of 
February he grew worse, and did not go up 
to his room on the second floor as usual. To 
his sister, Mrs. Contrell, he remarked, " My life's 
work is about over." She arranged for him a bed 
in the front parlor, and when his wife returned 
that afternoon his face was missed at the window, 
and on entering the house, she found him in bed. 
The coming shadow swept down over her heart 
in a moment, and she burst into tears. He ex- 
plained the reason for not going up to his room, 
and requested her not to weep for him again as 
long as he lived. Friends came over from Bush- 
wick every day to see him, so that during the last 



74 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

seventeen days of his life over eighty persons 
visited his room. A new and strange zeal awak- 
ened in his heart for the salvation of all those 
around him. He talked with each one, and told 
the sweet story of Jesus and his love. From 
many, promises were given, and solemn vows 
were made, to lead a new life and meet him in 
heaven. 

During this time business was sadly neglected, 
and had to be given up entirely for a few weeks. 
It was a bitter struggle for the wife now to 
smother back the tears, but sometimes, while he 
was talking with some one, of heaven, and glory, 
in the sick-room, she would hide away for a few 
moments and give way to her grief. 

To him the words of the Psalmist were ever 
precious, and daily they were read in his hearing. 
One verse he repeated over and over: "Precious 
in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. " 
Strange as it might seem, these very words were 
chosen by the minister for a text at the funeral, 
though no one had solicited the favor. 

Those weary nights of suffering and watching 
passed slowly away. God was there, and both 
hearts rested on Him ; but the bonds of earthly 
ties were soon to be severed. One night, when 
all was silent, and an unusual stillness reigned 
around, the poor sufferer breathed easily for a 



DEEPENING SHADOWS. 75 

moment, and the tired wife, reclining softly by his 
side, they both fell asleep. She dreamed of 
other days, when the strong one was by her side, 
and heard his voice saying, " Come, Maggie, I 
want you to go and see the moon shining on the 
river." 

" Darling, I do not care to go," was the reply, 
" I do not want to go ; I have seen that many a 
time." 

" Well, but come and go just to please me. 
Mrs. Conselyea and Mrs. Garrison are going." 

Finally, yielding, she said, " Get my bonnet, and 
I will go." 

Rising, in the vision, to accompany them, she 
took an astral lamp, brightly burning, passed into 
the hall, then to the piazza, where she stopped, 
and looking around, seemed to be at her old 
home again, the same house in which they were 
married. Before her seemed a dark valley, 
gloomy and damp, curtained by heavy timber on 
the right and left ; but beyond, over the tree- 
tops, she caught a glimpse of the river, the moon- 
beams playing brightly with its wavelets. Again 
she said, " I do not care to go, darling ; I '11 not 
go ; I have seen it many a time." 

As he turned the bright light fell full in his 
face, but there was a look of inexpressible sad- 
ness, as he said, " Then, I will go alone." He 



?6 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

passed down the steps into the dark valley, 
waving his hand, and throwing back the loving 
kiss, until his form was lost in the deepening 
shadows. 

As she turned and entered the house, a sense 
of loneliness came over her, known only to be- 
reaved hearts. The door closed with a dismal 
sound, and she awoke. Mr. Van Cott was cough- 
ing severely, and needed her assistance. As soon 
as he was easy again she told him of her singular 
dream. 

" I will tell you," said he, " what it means. I 
am going to die ; I wish you could go with me ; 
our life has been so happy ; but this can not be ; 
I shall go alone. That bright light you held in 
your hand is the love of Jesus ; let it always 
shine upon your heart, and in a little while we 
shall meet in the better world." 

She well knew that the hour drew nigh, and 
most earnestly did she pray for Divine strength, 
that she might not close her eyes in sleep till the 
change with him had come. For fourteen nights 
she had no regular sleep, and that prayer seemed 
literally answered. 

The week previous to his death his pastor came 
over from Bushwick, entered the sick-room, talked 
of business matters, and of this thing and that, 
but offered no word of Christian comfort to the 



DEEPENING SHADOWS, J? 

dying man, and when he was gone the sufferer 
requested that he be not admitted again. 

By request, a note was sent to Rev. Mr. 
Parker, of the Duane Methodist Episcopal 
Church, asking him to call. He came at once, 
on receiving the note, entered the sick-room, took 
the dying man's hand, saying, 

"'My brother, you are near the river of death. 
Is Christ with you ?" 

" Thank God, he is," exclaimed the child of the 
Kingdom of Grace. 

" Are the promises very precious ? Are you 
leaning upon the arm of God ?" 

He replied, 

11 Other refuge have I none. 
Hangs my helpless soul on God." 

He requested brother Parker to sing for him. 
The minister, being a most beautiful singer, com- 
menced, 

" My latest sun is sinking fast, 
My race is nearly run, 
My strongest trials now are past, 
My triumph is begun." 

As the sweet strains moved on, he turned to his 
wife, saying, " Sing, darling, sing." 

She made an effort, but as the words came, 

" O bear me away on your snowy wings," 

her voice broke down in choking sobs. 



78 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

The prayer that followed was most touching, 
full of pathos, brotherly love, and Christian faith. 
When the minister had taken his seat, she was 
requested to get the paper containing the beauti- 
ful words which she had sung over and over for 
him, and which were finally engraven on his 
tombstone : 

" There the weary may rest, and the wicked ne'er come ; 
There the saints are all safe, in their heavenly home ; 
With their harps and their crowns, they forever are seen, 
'Way over the river where the fields are all green. 

CHORUS. 

I want to cross over and dwell where he reigns, 
And join the glad angels on Eden's fair plains ; 

1 want to be gathered with all the redeemed, 

Yes, over the river, where the fields are all green." 

As soon as the hymn was closed the happy soul 
shouted " Glory to God !" a thing he was never 
known to do before. This short season of devo- 
tions filled his soul with praises. 

After the good pastor had gone, he turned, 
saying, "O, Maggie, if I only could have died 
then ; the room seemed full of holy fire." 

One who was sitting by afterward remarked, 
" His face shone like that of an angel." 

It was evident that the days of his pilgrimage 
were drawing to a close ; and wishing to pro- 
long life if possible, and having noticed in the 
paper that morning the newly discovered surgical 



DEEPENING SHADOWS. 79 

operation of transfusion, by which blood from a 
strong person can be introduced into the veins 
and circulation of another, and thereby vitality 
increased, and sometimes health restored, she 
insisted this should be done for him ; she could 
readily spare an ounce or two of blood each day, 
and possibly it might even partially restore him. 

"No, no," he answered, "it will do no good 
now, and I can not permit it, even if it would ; 
you will need all your blood for your own strength 
and the trials before you." 

He turned away thoughtfully, and by and by 
turned over again, and said, 

" Maggie, I can not die, you hold me so 
tightly." 

" O, I am so glad," was the reply, " for I am 
sure I do n't want you to die. What should I 
do ? I would have no one to love me." 

" My dear, every body will love you. Why do 
you want me to live ? I am but a poor, suffering 
rack of bones." 

On that cold, last day of Winter, he took her 
hands, saying, " Kneel down here by my side, 
darling, and just give me to God." 

While scalding tears came thick and fast, she 
shook her head, and hesitated to take the step. 

" Do you know, dear," he continued, " with all 
your gentle watch-care, with all your tender love, 



80 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

you can not do for me as God can ? Maggie, give 
me back to God !" 

It was asking such a gift she could not speak 
in reply ; her heart was bursting with grief. Her 
playmate, her husband, her all ; how could it be ! 

Once more he asked, 

"Are you not a Christian ? Can you not trust 
your treasure with God ? Kneel down, darling, 
and give me to God." 

She knelt, but her lips were sealed ; she could 
not, for the moment, utter a word. 

" I '11 tell you what to say/' continued he • 
" ' Father, into thy hands I commit my treasure.' ' ; 

The struggle was most severe, but at last the 
words were uttered, though they seemed sharper 
than a two-edged sword. He urged again, 

" Say it from your heart, darling ; say it from 
your heart." 

Finally, she breathed forth, in full resignation, 
" Lord, I give my all to thee ; let thy righteous 
will be done." 

On this he kissed her upturned brow, assisted 
her to rise, and said, 

" I knew you were a Christian, and could trust 
God." 

In less than half an hour from that moment 
the mantle of the dark-winged angel of death 
seemed to cover him. God had accepted the 



DEEPENING SHADOWS. 8 1 

gift. The death damp soon began to gather on 
his brow. His heaving chest was covered with 
the cold sweat, and, as she wiped it away, he re- 
marked, 

" Dear, do you know what that is ? If you do, 
I will not tell you." 

She knew too well the struggle nature was 
making, and this was the last ordeal through 
which it must pass. 

Cheerfully, for a moment, he looked round, 
turned his face toward the table, where were 
some nice white grapes, saying, 

"Maggie, let us have a love-feast (sacrament). 
This is our first ; the second will be when we 
taste the wine anew in our Father's kingdom. " 

As she placed a large grape to his lips, he re- 
fused, saying, " Not me first." 

He then put one to her lips, and they both 
communed together. 

Shortly after she broke the impressive silence 
by saying, 

" Darling, would it make you feel sad, if I 
should join the Methodist Church after you are 
gone ?" 

Quickly he took her hand and replied, 

" No, you were always a Methodist. But do n't 
let any thing tempt you to go again into the gay- 
eties of the world, and after a few brief days we 



82 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

will meet to spend a glorious eternity together ; 
for I know I am going home to God. But our 
child, Maggie! carefully, prayerfully watch her. 
I need not tell you these things ; I know you 
will do them. And now, when I am gone, do 
not put a monument over my grave, as high as 
Trinity steeple ; save your money ; you will need 
every dollar." 

Morning dawned, and at seven o'clock they 
thought he was passing away. To his brother- 
in-law he said, " Edgar, stand by Maggie ; help 
her in her business ; loan her what money she 
will need for the present emergencies. She will 
miss me very much ; and may God reward you 
with a home in heaven !" 

The two were alone a few moments, and for 
the last time. Sweet thoughts of tenderest part- 
ing love were there. 

" Darling,'' she said, " do you love me still ?" 

" O yes, dearest one, you have been more than 
a wife to me. You have been the workman and 
the joy of my household both. When I failed, 
you took up the burdens." 

Presently he continued, "Are you afraid of 
dead people, Maggie ?" 

" O, no, but why do you ask ?" 

" I want you to hold me in your arms when I 
am dying." 



DEEPENING SHADOWS. 83 

" My dear, I will certainly do so if I know just 
when you are dying." 

" Well, I will tell you." 

About eleven o'clock he turned, saying, 

" You may take me in your arms now, darling." 

As the form so precious was folded to her 
bosom, he remarked, " O, how nice !" . 

Half an hour passed in solemn silence. The 
aged mother was there, heart-broken and full of 
grief. Reaching his hand to her, he said, 

" Mother, I am going to Jesus, and we shall 
soon meet." 

At this little Sadie sprang from the room, 
crying, " Grandma, I can 't stand it, I can 't 
stand it!" 

In a moment more her father called her full 
name, " Sarah Ellen !" and she returned, exclaim- 
ing, " What do you want, papa ?" 

" I want you all by my side." 

In a few minutes he cried out, 

" Won't some one open my eyes ? won't some 
one open my eyes ? Mother, won't you open 
them ?" 

" They are open, darling child," she answered. 

The wife spoke gently, " I think, dear one, 
God has closed your eyes on earth, but I know- 
he will open them in heaven." 

" O, yes," he replied with a smile. 



84 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

Consciousness had returned, and he was easy 
for a few moments. The watchers proposed to 
relieve her, who for two hours had held him 
in one position, but, hearing them, he objected 
feebly with, " No, no," She, of course, would 
not lay him down till the very last. 

About one o'clock they thought he was gone. 
She laid him back on the pillows, and rested her 
head on his bosom. She had not wept much 
that day, but now her loneliness brought a flood 
of tears. Four or five breaths had passed, and 
again she felt his breast heaving. Immediately 
she sprang up, and gathered his form again to 
her bosom. Slowly he raised his hand trem- 
blingly, and exclaimed, " O, how beautiful ! 
Do n't weep, Maggie. Meet me in heaven !" 
His hand fell, and the brighter rays of the 
sun eternal inwrapped his soul. She was alone 
now — nay, not alone, for God was with her. 

The sorrows of that hour told upon her fear- 
fully, yet she was sustained and blessed of 
heaven in the trying ordeal. She now retired 
to her own room for a little rest. Fourteen 
nights had passed since she had been here to 
seek repose. Prayer was sweet, the everlasting 
arms were about her, and the Comforter was 
there speaking gently, " Lo, I am with you 
alway, even unto the end of the world." 



DEEPENING SUA DO WS. 8 5 

In the morning the scenes of the previous night 
passed vividly before her. The hour of darkness 
and the shadow of death, the dream of the night, 
when she saw the dark valley and the thick 
woods, the loneliness of the cold, cold world, 
was too much for the crushed nature to endure. 
She entered the room of death, fell beside the 
corpse, pillowed her head on the lifeless bosom, 
and, in wild and crushing sorrow, talked to him 
again. She took his arm and put it around her 
neck, but there was no drawing, no loving press- 
ure. The thought of life extinct, spirit gone, 
and nothing left but clay, was too much for the 
bleeding heart. And yet she remembered that 
the jewel was with her God, free from the 
anguish and dreadful sufferings of life. 

When she arose the clean linen over the bosom 
of the corpse was all wet with her tears. Friends 
led her to the morning meal, but, though the 
viands of earth were there and friends to com- 
fort, yet she could not relish a morsel of food. 
The day wore away heavily. Friends came in 
large numbers to see the dead, and the ministry 
to pray for the widow and the fatherless, and on 
the day following preparations were made for the 
funeral. 

She thought nothing would be more appro- 
priate than some emblem of his spotless life. 



86 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

" These are they which have come up out of 
great tribulation, and have washed their robes, 
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," 
was ever before her as she helped with her own 
hands to prepare that garment emblematical of 
the righteousness of the saints. 

The services at the house were short and full 
of tenderest sympathy with the afflicted. A few 
remarks, a fervent prayer, a song of faith and 
triumph, and the corpse passed over to old Bush- 
wick Church, where his name had been held as a 
member from childhood. The same choir which 
he had led for years sang to the tune of Dennis, 

"And must this body die, 

This well -wrought frame decay ? 
And must these active limbs of mine 
Lie moldering in the clay?" 

Through her mind thoughts came struggling rap- 
idly. Down this same aisle he had attended her 
the Sabbath after they were married. On the 
same spot where his body rested they had dedi- 
cated their two children to God in holy baptism. 
One was by her side ; the other was not, for God 
had taken it. Half of the little family had gone 
on before. 

The sermon over, almost the entire congrega- 
tion desired to see again the face of him they 
loved. When they led her to the coffin for the 



DEEPENING SHADOWS. 87 

last time she felt quite resigned to the will of 
God, far differently now than when at the funeral 
of little Rachel. Then she was rebellious in 
heart ; now a holy peace settled down over her 
soul. The last look was indeed sad, but the glo- 
rious thought, "We shall meet again/' strength- 
ened her for the hour of trial. The gentle voice 
of the minister was heard, saying, " He is not 
dead, but sleepeth." 

They waited for her last farewell. The sobs 
came. What else could be expected ? They had 
loved each other tenderly, and she was left to feel 
the sorrow of loneliness. As she bent over the 
coffin many passages of Scripture were suggested 
by the Heavenly Father : " Be not dismayed, for 
I am thy God : I will strengthen thee ; yea, I 
will help thee ; yea, I will uphold thee with the 
right-hand of my righteousness ;" " Lo, I am 
with you alway, even unto the end of the world ;" 
" I shall go to him, but he shall not return to 
me." As she left the church her only brother, 
Mr. Isaac Newton, put his arm around and sup- 
ported her, but the " everlasting arms " of Jesus 
were- felt even more precious than those of a 
brother. 

Seven miles away, in the beautiful cemetery 
of New Lotts, Mr. Van Cott had selected a spot 
for himself and family as their last resting-place. 



88 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

The open grave, and the solemn "dust to dust, 
ashes to ashes," and the rumble of the cold 
clods upon the coffin, awakened fresh emotion 
and sharpest grief. She turned away with an 
earnest desire that when life's great battle with 
her was over, when the work was faithfully done, 
when unseen messengers had attended her spirit 
through the trackless void to the bosom of the 
Redeemer, that some kind hands would lay her 
body by the side of his, that they together might 
arise at the resurrection of the just, and be 

"Forever with the Lord." 




CHAPTER VI. 



RESUMING BUSINESS. 



HE LEADS US ON. 

Hk leads us on, 

By paths we do not know ; 
Upward He leads us, though our steps be slow, 
Though oft we faint and falter by the way, 
Though storms and darkness oft obscure the day ; 

Yet when the clouds are gone, 

We know He leads us on. 

He leads us on 

Through all the unquiet years ; 
Past all our dream-land hopes, and doubts and fears. 
He guides our steps. Thro' all the tanglgd maze 
Of sin, of sorrow, and o'erclouded days, 

We know His will is done, 

And still He leads us on. 

And He, at last, 

After the weary strife, 
After the restless fever we call life- 
After the dreariness, the aching pain — 
The many struggl es which have proved in vain — 

After our toils are past — 

Will give us rest at last. 




[ABBATH morning came — one of those 
lovely days, so full of splendor and joy 
that all Christian hearts are glad to 
seek the sanctuary of God. Some of the kindred 
thought it would not be prudent for her to attend 

9 89 



90 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN CPTT. 

Church that day; but, in the language of the 
Psalmist, she could say, "My soul longeth, yea, 
even fainteth for the courts of the Lord." And 
then she had determined to unite with the 
Methodist Episcopal Church immediately, and 
have a permanent home with the people of her 
choice. 

As she entered the house of God her first 
thought was of the portals of heaven, which had 
just been opened to receive the weary one of earth, 
and that this was his first Sabbath in heaven. 
And then the grand hymn, in which all the con- 
gregation joined, reminded her of that multitude 
whose voice is as the sound of many waters. The 
prayer of the minister was just what her hungry 
soul wanted ; and when he remembered the be- 
reaved, and, at last, mentioned her name, the 
audience was bathed in tears. The sermon was 
marrow and fatness to her soul, and was a source 
of great strength. When the services were ended 
the minister met her with, 

"God bless you, my dear sister; rejoice, for 
your loved one is home in glory." 

She then informed him of her desire to join 
the Church. 

He said, " We will receive you into full mem- 
bership at once." 

But she replied, "I want to join on proba- 



RESUMING BUSINESS. 9 1 

tion, and commence on the lowest round of the 
ladder." 

He announced the fact to the retiring people, 
and requested any others who desired to give in 
their names to be present at the afternoon serv- 
ices. The church was nearly full at that hour ; 
and she became identified with a people to whom 
she had been attached from her youth. 

The week was spent mostly at home, arrang- 
ing a new wardrobe, and, save to attend the class 
and prayer meetings, she did not leave home 
during the time. 

On Monday she went again to the store, where 
she found much confusion. The foreman in charge 
had filled the orders so far as he was able, but the 
hands employed would not do much unless she 
was present. And then it was absolutely neces- 
sary for her to visit the different routes of former 
travel and solicit fresh orders. Frequently she 
was absent three days at a time, and then the 
work suffered in the laboratory. 

It became apparent, after a trial of some three 
months, that there must be a change in the busi- 
ness. She therefore closed her engagement with 
the owners at 41 Dey-street, and rented an office 
in Greenwich-street, turning her entire attention 
to filling orders, while others manufactured and 
did the shipping. This line of business was not 



92 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

without its trials, of long journeys, the meeting 
of new business firms, while now and then an old 
and friendly acquaintance was sure to want to 
know all about the sickness and death of Mr. Van 
Cott. The sad story must, of necessity, be told 
over and over, and still the reality to her heart 
was ever the same. It will not be amiss to give 
a single specimen, which was the first journey 
after her sad trial : 

" Left New York on the 8, A. M., train ; arrived 
at Boonton, N. J., after a ride of thirty-five miles 
by rail and five by stage, over hill and dale — visit- 
ing numerous merchants during the entire after- 
noon. In the evening attended the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, where a revival of religion was 
in progress. Retired about midnight. Arose ; 
took the stage at 6, A. M. ; rode five miles to 
Denville, a- village of two houses. The morning 
was bitterly cold, snow a foot deep on the aver- 
age, while here and there were immense drifts. 
Pushed on to Rockaway, three and a half miles 
further. The last journey was undertaken on 
foot, sachel in hand, sinking deeply in the snow 
at every step, veil covered with frost and snow." 

The necessity of such a journey was apparent. 
Arriving at the principal drug-store, she was al- 
most exhausted. They seated her near the fire, 
and, after the ice-bound veil was thawed from 



RESUMING BUSINESS. 93 

the victorine, she looked around at the persons 
present. The silver-haired merchant approached, 
when 'she handed him a photograph, asking, 

" Do you recognize that countenance ?" 

" O yes," was the reply ; " that was a particular 
friend of mine." 

" That was my husband, sir/' she continued. 

" Why, Mrs. Van Cott ! What are you doing 
out here this bitter cold morning ?" 

" I am trying to earn my bread, sir, and I would 
like to get your order." 

" How did you get over from Denville ?" 

" I walked," she replied. 

Turning quickly to his son, he said, "Here, 
give Mrs. Van Cott an order, for Heaven's sake, 
and be sure and get in every item we are out of." 

In a few minutes a hundred and seventy-five 
dollar order fully compensated her for the toil- 
some walk. With heart overflowing to God, and 
her order-book blotted somewhat with the tears 
of gratitude, she left the store, with many thanks, 
to visit some four more, and then walk nearly 
three-quarters of a mile, in time to take the train. 
She reached the depot, having a margin of ten 
minutes to spare, which she devoted to a good 
hearty cry. 

Some weeks after a scene occurred here, which 
we pause to narrate. The ticket agent, seeing the 



94 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

lady at the depot at stated intervals, naturally, in 
a short time, passed the accustomed salutations 
of the day. At first it was, 

"Good morning — cold day. How do you find 
business ?" 

Again : 

" Did you ever see the operations of the tele- 
graph ?" 

She never had — was glad to see it — and at once 
was delighted with its wonders. But her heart 
being warmed with the Divine Spirit, she re- 
marked, 

"What is this compared with the might and 
power of God, whose Word could speak worlds 
from naught ?" 

He replied, "That's so." 

She asked, " Sir, do you love God ?" 

" Indeed I do, with all my heart ; and I am 
living by faith on the Son of God." 

Her heart leaped for joy, and she very natu- 
rally continued, 

" To what Church do you belong ?" 

" Well, to tell the truth, I do n't belong to any 
Church, or attend any particular one." 

Surprised she answered, " That is strange ; do n't 
you think it is your duty and privilege ?" 

" Well, yes, I know it is, but the fact is, I think 
consistency is a jewel, and as I am instrumental 



RESUMING B US I NESS. 95 

in bringing about $30,000 worth of lager beer into 
this place every year, I did not think it would be 
consistent to unite with the Church.'' 

" But, sir, do n't you think it is very wrong ? and 
besides I thought you were living by faith, but, 
sir, you live by lager beer. Why do n't you give it 
up and trust in God ?" 

" But stop a moment, I have a wife and four chil- 
dren, and you know my pay at this depot is very 
small." 

" I admit that, but you know, if the Lord is 
your Shepherd, he has promised to provide, and 
his promises can never fail." 

The train arrived, and with a "God bless you 
and help you to do right," she passed on her jour- 
ney, thinking of the strange way many " live by 
faith on the Son of God," when sight and self-in- 
terest predominate. 

But to return to the first journey. A ride of 
twelve miles brought her to Stanhope again ; 
walked three-fourths of a mile to the village, and 
for two hours she sped from store to store, kindly 
received by all. By one o'clock, P. M., the active 
work was done for the day, and she stopped at 
delightful hotel kept by a Quaker blessed with a 
son and five grown daughters, who gave her a 
most cordial welcome. She spent the afternoon 
reading sermons and singing some of the sweet 



g6 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

songs of Zion. After supper she was taken to 
the depot, and took the train for Hackettstown, 
N. J., twelve miles distant ; sent her sachel and 
shawl by the hotel coach, with orders for a good 
warm room, while she stopped at the Methodist 
Episcopal Church to get her soul refreshed from the 
communion of saints and the bounties of heaven. 

Retired at ten, P. M., to rise at five and break- 
fast at six; then with hired conveyance crossed 
Schoolley's Mountain and took orders in a little 
village, returning at 9, A. M., in time to visit all the 
drug-stores in Hackettstown before noon. Reached 
the hotel, dined at one, and at 2, P. M., was on the 
train for New York city. 

On the way, with Bible in hand, she looked up 
a subject to speak from at one of the Mission 
meetings that evening. 

At 5.30, P. M., stopped at a restaurant, then 
hastened to the Mission, where happy hearts 
awaited her coming. A little before midnight 
she reached home, where little Sadie waited and 
wished for dear mamma. That evening prayer 
was sweet and angels guarded while mother and 
child slept. Morning came and the active worker 
committed her child to the care of that God who 
had promised to be a Father to the fatherless, and 
a friend to the widow. 

It generally took two days to select and fill 



RESUMING BUSINESS. 97 

the orders obtained. The Sabbath following was 
one of deep and solemn interest, and with a full 
heart she could sing — 

" Welcome, sweet day of rest." 

One cold Winter night at Hackettstown, as she 
entered the depot to take the 6.30 train, some 
thirty rough-looking railroad men were there 
awaiting the same train. Looking around she 
saw no other lady present, and she naturally felt 
a little timid. She soon learned that those men, 
though clad in a rough garb, were perfect gentle- 
men in language and behavior ; not one profane 
word escaped their lips. A few moments after 
purchasing her ticket, a telegram' came saying the 
train had broken down thirty-five miles below, 
and would not arrive until two o'clock in the 
morning. 

Several of the workmen left for the hotel while 
she sat reading. Presently the son of the land- 
lord came in saying, " Mrs. Van Cott, mother and 
the girls sent for you to come right back, and 
we '11 have a glorious time. You can have a prayer- 
meeting if you want to." Knowing the work be- 
fore her, and the meeting at the Five Points, she 
declined, hoping the train would arrive sooner 
than announced. With the Book of Psalms and 
her needle-work, the moments flew rapidly, when 
soon another dispatch said the train would arrive 



98 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

at 1 1.30. On the cars she expected to meet some 
one of the many merchants of her acquaintance, 
but not one was there. It was past midnight 
when she arrived at the next place of destination. 

The coach was not in waiting, and it was a full 
mile to the hotel. In the depot a good warm fire 
was burning, and she asked the privilege of re- 
maining there till morning. The ticket agent 
asked, " Where do you wish to go ?" 

"To the Warren House," she replied. 

" I am going part of the way, and will see you 
all right. ,, 

They started out; the keen frosty air bit the 
face and fingers of the travelers. But this was 
of little account ; the stars shone brightly in the 
great dome of heaven as they chatted and passed 
on rapidly. After a walk of about two blocks the 
gentleman said, " I live down this street. I pre- 
sume my wife will think I have been hurt by the 
accident, if I do not come soon." 

He hesitated a moment, when she remarked, 
" I am not a bit afraid. Good-night ; God bless 
you ; haste to your waiting ones." 

As the light of his lantern and receding foot- 
steps were lost in the bend of the road, she, for 
the first time, remembered that she was alone. 
Down the whole length of the street not a form 
was to be seen, not the glimmer of a light to 



RESUMING BUSINESS. 99 

cheer the way, while close by the road she had 
to pass two grave-yards. She well knew the 
pale-faced sleepers could not harm her, and would 
not if they could, but at that ghostly hour the 
shudders would come in spite of her strongest 
resolution. 

Firmly treading the frozen ground, and singing 
almost aloud, she hurried forward, but each mo- 
ment becoming more and more nervous. She re- 
membered the lonely mound in the New Lotts 
Church-yard where slept the form of her com- 
panion, and how gladly he would hasten to her 
side, did not the cold hand of death bind him. 

She thought of her child, her friends one by 
one, her strange lot, and beneath that star-lit sky, 
her life passed quickly in review before her 
mind. Her fears were fast overcoming her, when 
the panting heart was uplifted to God in prayer. 
Right earnestly did she look to the God of Elijah, 
and then came again the words of Scripture, " Lo 
I am with you alway ;" " I will be thy God." 
But she said, " Father, thy child is so fearful ; 
O, send an angel to comfort ; nay, come thyself, 
dear Savior, and stand by me this lonely hour !" 

In a moment more, not ten paces before her, 
she saw a gentleman standing, wondering, doubt- 
less, why the lady was there unattended. She 
could not cry ; her heart-blood seemed frozen ; 



100 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

and, with a fervent " God help me !" she struck 
her hymn-tune a key higher, planted her feet 
more heavily on the pavement, and pressed on. 
The gentleman had good common sense, kept in 
the middle of the street, leaving to the affrighted 
one the entire sidewalk. The grave-yards were 
passed, and she reached the hotel in safety, 
where a warm room was in waiting. She sank 
upon the floor, and gave thanks to God that the 
anguish of that dreadful hour was over. The 
words of Job were precious : " He shall deliver 
thee in six troubles ; yea, in seven there shall no 
evil touch thee." 

Next morning, when seated in the dining-room, 
the landlord came, saying, " I had a gentleman 
call this morning and asked who the lady was 
that arrived on the late train ? I told him it must 
have been Mrs. Van Cott, as we had been look- 
ing for her, and he remarked, ' Never did my 
heart so ache for a lady ; I did not dare speak to 
her ; I knew she was frightened, by the trembling 
of her voice ; and I shall never forget the hymn 
she sung.' " 

" Tell the gentleman I prayed God to bless 
him, and ever shall when I think of that hour." 

The first time she entered the village of Boon- 
ton, N. J., being a stranger to all in the place, she 
ordered the stage to stop at William Graham's, 



RESUMING BUSINESS. 10 1 

the first name on the list in her order-book; She 
alighted, and with quivering lip and throbbing 
heart, entered the store. Behind the counter 
stood a good-natured gentleman, to whom she 
handed one of her order cards. 

"Do you know that name ? My name is Mrs. 
P. P. Van Cott. Will you please give me your 
order, sir ?" 

This was about all she could say, and she 
paused for his reply. 

" How is Peter, Mrs. Van Cott ?" he asked, 
very tenderly. 

This was the drop too much, and she burst into 
tears. Presently she answered, "'He is well, for 
he is with his God. Will you give me your 
order ? I intend to carry on the business ; you 
need not fear to trust me." 

"I have no fear; Peter often told me you did 
the whole of the business save taking the* orders; 
of course you shall have all of my trade ; I wish it 
was larger. But you have not been to dinner ; 
come, go into the house, and let me introduce 
you to my sister ; she thought very highly of Mr. 
Van Cott. ,, 

" No, I thank you ; I am on my way to the 
hotel, but will call this evening and see your 
sister." 

" No," he replied, " go now ;" and she followed 



102 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

into a cozy sitting-room, where a modest, shrink- 
ing lady met them. As soon as they were intro- 
duced, and seated, she asked, as her brother 
retired, 

" How is Mr. Van Cott ? We have wanted to 
hear ; and brother expected to visit New York 
next week, and intended to call at the office, as 
we were out of goods. Tell me, how is he ? 
Yet I need not ask ; I read it in your face and 
dress. How long has he been gone?" The time 
was stated ; and then, " How long was he con- 
fined to the house ?" and several other of the usual 
questions. 

The whole story was told ; and the two, per- 
fect strangers until that hour, unconsciously 
joined hands, and wept together, while the un- 
seen hand of the Savior cemented them in a bond 
of lasting friendship. 

" Lay aside your bonnet, and have some din- 
ner ; we have just arisen." 

" No, thank you ; I want to get to the hotel, 
and my room ; then I have much work to do this 
afternoon, as I must leave with the morning 
stage." 

" Won't you allow me the pleasure of your com- 
pany during this visit ?" was spoken so gently, 
that Mrs. Van Cott's consent was quickly gained. 
Soon after dinner she hastened abroad to her 



RESUMING BUSINESS. IO3 

work, and returned in due time to spend a very- 
pleasant evening with that sister and brother, in 
their delightful home. 

The next visit to Boonton she drove immedi- 
ately to the hotel, so as not to appear intrusive, 
and after dinner, sallied forth for her orders. By 
the time she had reached Mr. Graham's store, she 
was told that her sachel and shawl were with 
sister Jennie, and the hotel bill paid, and the 
landlord notified that if he was ever known to let 
a room, or give a meal to Mrs. Van Cott, while 
William and Jennie Graham lived in town, he 
should be dealt with according to law. The 
joke was seen, and the hearty welcome duly ap- 
preciated. 





CHAPTER VII. 



MISSION WORK. 




BOUT the middle of April, a lady friend, 
expecting to be absent from the city, 
asked Mrs. Van Cott to take her class 
in the Sunday-school of the Duane-Street Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. 

She was answered by a most emphatic " No." 
But Mrs. Van Cott thought that a little rude, and 
then explained by giving several reasons — that 
she was incompetent to teach that which she un- 
derstood so poorly ; that Bible-class instruction 
was entirely new to her ; and that she would not 
dare to make the attempt. The lady still urged 
her case, stating that there was no one in the 
Church whom the girls would so gladly receive as 
a teacher. 

" Will you pray over the matter, and let me 

know before the coming Sabbath ?" 
104 



MISSION WORK. 105 

" No ; I will not pray for a thing I do not 
want," was the firm reply. 

" But if God wants you to do it, would you be 
willing ?" 

1 " Yes ; if God wants me to do it I am willing, 
for then he will help me." And with a smiling 
"good-night," she promised to ask the Divine 
guidance. 

At the family altar that evening the promise 
was forgotten ; but just as she arose from a sea- 
son of secret prayer, later at night, the subject 
flashed before her. She presented the question 
plainly to the Lord, pleading for his direction, 
and then opened the Bible for a proof text of his 
approval, when her eye rested upon the follow- 
ing: "See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, 
that there is none like him among all the people 
of Israel." 

The question was settled in a moment ; God 
certainly had " chosen " her for this work, and she 
dared not disobey. 

In due time the lady was informed of her com- 
pliance, and that she would do the best in her 
power to instruct the class. 

From the interest awakened in the hearts of 
those young ladies, several became thoughtful 
and were soon converted to God. 

The second Sabbath in May, 1866, while await- 



106 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

ing the opening of Church services, Rev. James 
Burdick asked if Sarah, her daughter, might as- 
sist them in the mission work by playing on the 
organ that afternoon. 

Desiring to know where it was located, she was 
told that it was one of the city mission stations 
on the Five Points. At this she was nearly 
"horrified/' but finally gave her consent, provid- 
ing the daughter would be well cared for by Mr. 
Burdick every minute, till her return. This he 
promised should be faithfully done. 

In a moment more a thought darted through 
her brain, "Go yourself." While the congrega- 
tion was singing, brother Burdick was informed 
of her desire to go, and was glad to have her aid 
in singing. 

There was no small commotion at the dinner- 
table that day, when the family learned the plans 
arranged for the afternoon. Mr. Contrell, the 
brother-in-law, entered his protest, showing how 
it would demean her in his estimation, and how 
the departed one, if alive, would not consent to 
any such unlady-like proceedings. Dinner over, 
immediate preparations were made for the journey. 

By this time Sarah began to hesitate consider- 
ably from what had been said at the table, by her 
uncle and others. However, they were soon at 
No. 122 Leonard-street, near Elm, where they 



MISSION WORK. 107 

found a neat little room well fitted up, and about 
twenty persons assembled, who, with Rev. Charles 
Battersby, and the missionary, Rev. Mr. Burdick, 
awaited their coming. 

To her all was strange and novel. When the 
services commenced she took her seat in the 
office, a place partitioned off from the main room, 
where stood the melodeon. While the daughter 
played, the mother led the singing. 

Not much of that sermon was retained by the 
visitors. Mrs. Van Cott's thoughts were on the 
surrounding motley group. They were mostly 
adults and very poorly clad. There was one 
in particular, whose swollen, red face and bleared 
eyes told of the cups of woe just taken ; and 
though she made repeated efforts to keep awake 
during the singing, yet as soon as that was 
over, the Five Points' whisky obtained the mas- 
tery. At this horrid sight nature revolted, and 
the mother heartily wished she were away. Any 
thing unsightly or uncleanly would invariably 
awaken the most disagreeable feelings, and here 
was one who completely filled the bill. By and 
by she felt her soul going out in prayer for the 
wretched creature, desiring to do something to 
save her from utter ruin. 

At the close of the meeting, as she was stand- 
ing by the hand-railing of the office, and the con- 



108 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

gregation passing out, the poor inebriate came 
along. Mrs. Van Cott quickly extended her hand 
and exclaimed, "You're a poor soul, an't you?" 
The wretched one drew near and clasped the ex- 
tended hand and replied, 

" O, I 'm a miserable drunkard !" 

" Why do n't you give it up ?" asked Mrs. Van 
Cott. 

" Did you ever try to give up a besettin' sin ?" 

" Jesus will help you, if you will try." 

The poor soul piteously asked, " Will you pray 
for me?" This was a startling inquiry, the first 
request of the kind ever made to her, and she 
quickly answered, " I will if you will pray for 
yourself." The wretched one staggered along, 
rum doing its work, destroying all that was good, 
and leaving only that which was hideous. 

This scene awoke in the mind of Mrs. Van 
Cott a most fervent desire to battle the monster 
intemperance, and pour a withering flame of 
rebuke upon any who gave aid, countenance, 
influence, or votes in support of the nefarious 
traffic. 

On her way home she could scarcely refrain 

from crying out against professed Christians who 

stand as idle spectators of the dreadful scenes of 

■ death and ruin, in this land of the free and home 

of the brave. 



MISSION WORK. IO9 

As the last ones were leaving the house brother 
Burdick smilingly turned to her, saying, 

" Sister, what do you think of this ?" 

" This is nice," was the reply. 

She was introduced to the pastor, Rev. C. Bat- 
tersby,and thought it strange that this, the Sixth 
Ward Mission, supported by Baptist, Presbyte- 
rian, and Congregational denominations, should 
be run by two Methodist clergymen. After this 
a further conversation was held, which was pro- 
ductive of happy results. 

" Brother Burdick, do you have any meetings 
during the week ?" she asked. 

" No ; we have been two weeks in getting these 
out, and it would be impossible to get them to 
attend a meeting during the week." 

" I do n't know, but it seems to me they would 
come out." 

" Most likely. I may know more of mission 
work than you, having been in it for thirty-five 
years." 

" True, so you may, but I do believe they 
would come out." 

" Well, suppose you try it." 

This w T as a new idea — it had never entered her 
mind before — but she answered, 

" I will." 

" When will you hold your first meeting ?" 



IIO MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

By this time a hearty, good laugh was rising, 
and they enjoyed it before going further. 

" Whenever you will let me have the room. ,, 

" O, as to that, we do n't use the room on 
week-days, and you may have it at any time. 
When would you like it ?" 

" Next Monday evening, if brother Battersby 
will consent and announce it." 

At once, with smile peculiar to himself, he said, 

" I will announce it, but what shall I say ?" 

"Well, sir, you may say just what you please. 
I shall simply come and study the Bible with 
them. ,, 

Presently the thought came, "What a step you 
have taken !" She had never held a meeting — 
indeed, had never spoken before any people save 
those in the regular class and prayer meetings — 
and yet how to get out of it she could not tell. 

The following Sabbath it was announced by 
the very gentle pastor, 

" To-morrow evening sister Van Cott will be 
glad to meet all who will come to this room, at 
seven and a half o'clock, to spend a short time 
with her in the study of the Bible." 

During this time she sat in the back part of 
the house, trembling like a frightened child, yet 
confiding in the never-failing support of Christ. 

All day Monday she was much in prayer while 



MISSION WORK. Ill 

at the office. But, as it seemed to her, unfortu- 
nately, about the time to start for the meeting a 
heavy shower came on, and her friends thought 
she must be wild to go out in such a pelting 
storm ; but she determined to go, and be at the 
post of duty. 

At the mission station she found the pastor 
'and the missionary quietly awaiting her coming. 
They took their seats in the office. An hour 
passed, but no one came. At length the min- 
ister said, 

" I fear you will feel discouraged, sister. ,, 

" No, sir, not at all." 

" I told you they would not come out," said 
brother Burdick, the missionary. 

This was a little too much, and she replied, 

" I doubt if you would have turned out in this 
rain, only you thought to have a good laugh at 
me. They will come out sometime, I know they 
will, and I am so sure of it I want to say just 
here you will have to come and open the meeting 
with prayer, as I have never prayed in public." 

The good brother in a few moments looked 
over his glasses, cleared his throat, and, with a 
smile, said, 

" You never prayed in public ? Well, I do n't 
believe you will ever have a better time to learn 
than now, so please lead us in prayer." 



112 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

Without a moment's hesitation they all kneeled, 
and she poured out her soul to God in behalf of 
the work in prospect. Arising, she felt a trem- 
bling sensation from having prayed before a min- 
ister of the Gospel, and also a missionary of age, 
wisdom, and great experience. Yet, with child- 
like simplicity, she desired to learn the right way. 

Brother Burdick remarked, " I shall not come' 
over to open your meeting with prayer." 

" O, brother, I shall break down !" 

" Well, then, get up again." 

" Thank you, so I can ; but now, since you will 
not pray for me, please understand this one thing, 
you must not attend the meeting." 

" You had better wait till you have a meeting," 
he replied. 

" You may depend upon it I will have a meet- 
ing, and you may very much desire to be present." 

The pastor here interrupted the conversation, 
saying, 

" Sister, I think you should invite the congre- 
gation. Perhaps it would be best. On next 
Sabbath, as soon as I get through preaching, 
you come forward and invite them." 

When the time arrived she stepped near the 
platform and told the motley crowd her desire to 
do good, and then asked, " How many of you will 
meet me here to-morrow night ?" 



MISSION WORK. 113 

Eight adults arose to their feet, and she readily- 
concluded that the coming meeting would be a 
success. She then took the hands of one by one, 
asking each not to disappoint her, and they read- 
ily gave the most glowing promises. 

" There, brother Burdick, I told you I 'd have 
a meeting,'' she exclaimed, as the crowd left. 

He smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and replied, 

" Not one of them will be out. They had just 
as soon lie as speak the truth." 

This caused a pang of sorrow, and led the way 
for urgent prayer in their behalf. 

Evening came. This time the stars gleamed 
brightly and seemed to smile hopefully on all as 
she wended her way to the mission-room. It 
was a happy surprise to find half a dozen there 
waiting her coming ; and soon two more came, 
which made up the number according to their 
promises. While at prayer rapturous joy filled 
her soul, and shortly after, as they were singing, 
the sound of footsteps was heard on the inclosed 
stairway. It was quite evident who were there, 
but the interest in those present was too great 
to be thwarted, and she proceeded to distribute 
Bibles to all in the little audience. Taking the 
Sunday-school lesson of the previous Sabbath, 
she proceeded at once with the work. But, alas ! 
only two could read, while several of the others 



1 14 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

had their books upside down ; so she concluded 
to read the verses herself, and then explain the 
meaning as best she could. Soon they became 
restless, and then a sweet hymn was sung, all 
being exhorted to join heartily. She was some- 
what astonished, on looking at her watch, to find 
that the meeting had lasted over two hours. 
How to close was the next question, and, think- 
ing it would be nothing wrong, raised her hands 
as the congregation arose, and pronounced a reg- 
ular benediction. 

One good old faithful heart, colored Mary, took 
her hand, and when asked if she enjoyed the 
meeting, replied, 

" De Lord bress you, chile, I never tend sich a 
good meetin' afore." 

This caused joy enough for all her efforts, and 
while bidding adieu to the last ones, the door of 
the stairway opened and a hidden congregation 
of some five or six, headed by smiling brother 
Burdick, came to congratulate her on her success. 

She answered, " Please wait till I get fairly 
started, then come and see." 

Each succeeding meeting brought new faces ; 
the interest steadily increased. She asked for the 
room on Sabbath evenings, and at this meeting 
so many attended that the seats were soon full. 

After a few weeks the pastor asked if Jie could 



MISSION WORK. 115 

have the Sabbath evening congregation, which 
was readily transferred to his care, and she opened 
a Sabbath afternoon Sunday-school. 

The Monday evening meetings were so suc- 
cessful that another was appointed by brother 
Battersby for Thursday evening, and invited her 
to attend. This she at first declined, but after a 
little reflection consented, and threw her whole 
energy into the work. 

At the close of one of these meetings, the 
missionary requested her to attend a little gath- 
ering in Leonard-street, corner of Baxter, in the 
attic of a miserable hovel. She was quite indig- 
nant after having given her consent, on being 
informed that the congregation would be colored 
people. And as she tried to analyze her feelings 
it seemed a little singular, for she had always a 
warm affection toward them even from childhood. 
But the thought of leading a meeting of colored 
people was perfectly revolting, and she tried to 
persuade herself that it was not her duty. The 
thought deepened, and being informed by a worthy 
young assistant missionary of the horrors of the 
place, and wondering somewhat at the request, 
finally sent word that she would not go. It seemed 
too much like compromising her standing and 
future usefulness to go to such a low place and 
then assist in holding divine services with negroes. 



1 1 6 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

Reaching home she hastened to her room, 
opened her Bible at the regular lesson, and in 
one of the first verses was " condemnation." Clos- 
ing at that page, she opened at random to another 
place, and the passage there was "judgment ;" 
then her heart began to pant for some of the 
promises of God, and on opening it again, it was 
" wrath to come." 

By this time her mind was nearly in a state 
of frenzy, and she began to reflect a little on the 
past. The evening meeting had been glorious ; 
her heart had warmed in the work, and now why 
this blackness of darkness ? In earnest prayer 
she thanked God for past mercies received, and 
blessings unnumbered given. Then came the 
petitions for usefulness, that she might glorify 
God in leading souls to the cross, but in a mo- 
ment, quick as thought, her lips were closed as by 
an unseen hand, and no word could be uttered 
for the things usually desired. The Spirit seemed 
to speak to her audibly, "You are mocking God." 

She tried again and again until utterance and 
communion were both cut off. " O, well, I am 
too weary to-night to pray or ask a petition ; I 
will go to bed and shall feel better in the morn- 
ing." The night passed in wakefulness and agony. 
Morning came ; the struggle was again renewed ; 
thanks and praises for the safety of the night 



MISSION WORK. 117 

were offered, and ran on for some moments, when 
again the petitions were asked ; still she was 
debarred intercourse with her Savior. Prayer 
seemed a mockery, and all light of heaven gone. 
In the bitterness of soul she tried to repeat the 
Lord's Prayer, but even in this utterance and 
memory failed. She could not repeat it, even if 
her life had been at stake. And there before the 
God of heaven, with a spiritual darkness indescrib- 
able, she waited in agony. At the breakfast table 
her kindred tried to comfort her as they saw the 
flood of tears, supposing it was the desolation of 
a widow's heart. The hour of business came, and 
she starting for the office, arrived at St. John's 
Park, where scores of times she had paused to 
hear the sweet notes of the birds, but this morn- 
ing the trees were drooping, and not a warbler 
was heard among all the branches. The foot- 
steps on the pavement echoed with a dull, heavy 
thug; the clouds had no silver lining, and the 
sparkling Hudson seemed more like a sea of ink 
than of bright waters. At the desk, the struggle 
was again renewed ; the comfort sought from the 
Bible was still withheld, and the same threatenings 
breathed from every page. Finally, after a fear- 
ful mental struggle, she cried to God, "Give me 
my peace again or thrust me down to hell." 
In a moment the scene of the apostle Peter's 



1 1 8 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

vision passed before her, and she heard the words 
of inspiration, " What God has cleansed, call not 
thou common or unclean." 

At this she cried out with a full heart, " I will 
go." From that hour the former prejudices of 
caste or color vanished, and she felt that all were 
one in Christ. Then came another difficulty ; 
how could she get word to the young missionary 
whom she requested to recall the appointment? 
She wrote a note, but did not know where to 
direct it to in the vast babel of a city. She was 
actually compelled to go in search of the gentle- 
man, found his office, and left the note without 
seeing him. In due time they started ; the night 
was dark and the way gloomy beyond description. 
They climbed up, up, two flights of rickety stairs, 
reeking with filth and garbage, the air loaded 
with sickening odors ; they arrived at a platform, 
then a few steps more, and the guide said, " Now 
one of the steps is gone, you must take two." 

This she did without danger ; then passing un- 
der a narrow low way was directed to stoop, but 
not heeding the order fully, her head and back 
received a terrible scraping from an unseen rough 
beam overhead. At last they reached a door, 
her heart fluttering and throbbing as the rattling 
old boards were opened. Before them was one 
of the worst pictures in all of the Five Points — 



MISSION WORK. II9 

a horrid crowd of men, women, children, ne- 
groes, with tobacco smoke, broken chairs, a de- 
lapidated old table, rum, bread, a pile of cabbage, 
and a stench which fairly staggered the messen- 
gers of truth. Involuntarily she cried, " My God, 
is this the work?" 

The guide still led on — this was but an open- 
ing scene. Another door, and here was a low, 
narrow room, with a few little openings close to 
the rafters, called windows — the plastering here 
and there supplied by old newspapers — but the 
place showed some semblance of neatness. The 
celebrated divine, Newman Hall, of England, 
visited this room some weeks afterward, when 
the meetings were well attended, and spoke words 
of cheer as he stood in the door-way; and after- 
ward referred to the scene in addressing a vast 
throng in Cooper Institute. Eighteen colored 
people had assembled with brother Burdick and 
wife — the only white persons — and were patiently 
waiting services. The furniture consisted of a 
little table, on which was a very poor light and a 
Bible, and an old weather-worn sailor's chest for 
a sofa. The two persons just entering found 
limited accommodations on the old box ; and in a 
moment brother Burdick said, 

" Sister Van Cott, lead us in prayer." 

She knelt, told God of her sins, pleaded earnestly 



120 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

for a ray of Divine illumination ; and the poor 
dusky people supposed all this time she was pray- 
ing for them, and they sobbed aloud in their 
misery and sin. Suddenly the glory came into 
her soul, and she shouted aloud for joy. Arising 
she asked the missionary how many present were 
professors of religion ? and learned to her aston- 
ishment that there was not one. She went around 
shaking hands with each, offering an instructive 
word, encouraging them to seek for a better life, 
and exacting several promises to attend the serv- 
ices at the mission-room on the coming Sabbath 
evening. The services were quite varied, but, in 
the end, very profitable. 

Several manifested a desire to follow Jesus, 
and, before many weeks, a few gave evidence of a 
change of heart. Among the latter was a Mrs. 
Cuffy, a colored lady of refinement in every sense 
of the word. She begged that meetings might be 
held in her house, in the rear part of 163 Leon- 
ard-street, where she kept a first-class sailors' 
boarding-house. Having found Christ precious 
herself, she wanted to do good, and used this way 
of helping others to the Lord. For a few days at 
a time men were stopping at her house from every 
port in the world, and she urged that if only one 
could be reached and saved it would be a glorious 
work. 



MISSION WORK. 121 

The following Tuesday evening her rooms were 
crowded, and some souls started for the kingdom 
of heaven. The folding-doors were thrown open, 
and parlor and sitting-room occupied. These soon 
were filled, and the way was opened into another 
room, where a door cut through the wall gave the 
speaker a better chance to see her entire audience. 
From this time the work went on gloriously. 
Among the regular attendants was one old col- 
ored man, to whom it was most refreshing to listen. 
His prayers were fervent, and full of faith ; his 
exhortations pungent, and replete with Scriptural 
quotations. At the close of one of the meetings, 
as this good "Father Thompson " was passing 
around, Mrs. Van Cott asked, 

" How is it that you can so readily quote Script- 
ure — you must have studied much and prayer- 
fully?" 

A happy smile beamed from his eye as he ex- 
claimed, 

" Dear chile, I never read a word in all my life. 
Dis poor old man do n't know his letters yet ; 
but I prayed de dear Lord for ten year to give 
me the truth in my soul, and each time I hea 
de Word I try to catch, and mark, learn, and in- 
wardly 'gest de matter. And troo prayer de Lord 
has helped me, and I 's sure I 's gwine home to 

die no more. Bress de Lord !" 

ii 



122 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

At another time, just in front of the speaker, 
sat a very dark, handsome son of Neptune, noble 
in bearing, seemingly very much disturbed during 
the sermon. The speaker fancied he was weary 
of her talk ; but presently she saw tears falling 
from his eyes, and knew then that it was the 
work of the Holy Spirit upon his heart. Closing, 
she said, 

" If there are any who feel their souls crying 
out after God, who desire to be prayed for, whose 
hearts are saying, 

' O for a heart, perfect and right, and pure and good, 
A copy, Lord, of thine,' 

let them arise." 

One or two arose, weeping, asking prayers ; and 
as she still pressed the matter, the restless man 
arose, saying, 

"I was at the meeting in the mission-room 
on Sabbath, but I felt no moving in my heart ; 
but to-night" — here he was choked with sobs, but 
in a few moments proceeded — " I am a great sin- 
ner, and yet I can feel the hand of a sainted mother 
on my head, imploring God's blessing on her boy. 
My mother died when I was yet a lad, and, as she 
was an earnest Christian, she early taught me the 
way of salvation, and I yielded to be saved. Sick- 
ness came, and- death followed. Just before the 
trying hour that made me an orphan, mother took 



MISSION WORK. 123 

my hand — O how plainly I feel her icy touch 
now! — and gently prayed God to keep her child 
from the evil in the world. Then, with trembling 
hand, she gave me her Bible, saying, 'Boy, this 
has kept me through life, and its truths light up 
for me the dark valley I am now nearing. Keep 
it, my boy, read it, and it will guide you safely 
home, and I '11 wait your coming — you know the 
way/ The book was opened, and a lock of hair 
was placed in it, and I possessed my mothers 
Bible I promised, and expected to meet her in 
heaven. The solemn day of burial came ; beside 
that open grave I renewed my promise to meet 
her in heaven. But O, what a failure I have 
made ! In a few days I left and went to sea ; 
there, with ungodly companions, I soon became 
reckless indeed. I was a ringleader in sin. Oft- 
times, as I would go to my chest, I would be up- 
braided by that mothers Bible, as it silently spake 
to me. This often caused the bitter curse to 
escape from my lips. I remember one night a 
fearful storm had come down upon us ; the bil- 
lows rolled, the fierce lightning gleamed, the 
thunder boomed, wave after wave washed the 
deck, and, with no thought of death, as the ropes 
would slip, or we stagger over the deck, curses 
and bitter oaths would roll from our lips. Drenched 
to the skin, as soon as the storm ceased, all hands 



124 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

sought a change of rig. With mirth and laughter 
over our narrow escape from a watery grave, I 
went to my locker, and, putting down my hand 
for the dry rig, the first thing I took hold of was 
my mother's Bible, and the curl of hair twisted 
itself around my finger. Angered beyond endur- 
ance, I took the book with an oath, rushed on 
deck, and, cursing the mother that bore me, I cast 
it into the waves. God forgive me ! Please pray 
for me, that my offended God may look in pity 
upon me once again." 

Of course this wonderful experience awakened 
a most profound interest in his behalf, and most 
fervent prayer was offered for the struggling soul. 
Such agony as he manifested was fearful. In 
about an hour and a half, while incessant prayer 
was made, the light of heaven broke in upon his 
soul, and a shout of thanksgiving went up to God, 
who, in and through Christ Jesus, was again his 
reconciled Father. 

As they were singing the doxology, he again 
appeared sad. After the meeting, Mrs, Van Cott 
asked, " Can you not trust the Savior ?" 

" O yes ; but my mothers Bible !" He could 
say no more, for the choking emotion. 

Taking the Bible from the stand, she penciled 
her name therein, and with a word of prayer gave 
it to him. 



MISSION WORK. 125 

" I shall sail to-morrow," he said, " but, God 
willing, I will return at the end of six months, 
and will do my best to live for God." 

This meeting continued to prosper ; others 
were formed, until every evening in the week was 
occupied, save that of Saturday. 

Of this noble colored sailor a subsequent his- 
tory will here be in place. He was not forgotten 
in prayer, as they met night after night. As the 
six months drew to a close, Mrs. Van Cott be- 
came more anxious about the work of grace in his 
heart. On entering the meeting one evening, she 
found him sitting before her, with all the evi- 
dences of happiness beaming out through his 
nature. She took no special notice of him, but 
proceeded to open the meeting. Soon the invita- 
tion w T as given for any to speak who felt so in- 
clined. In a moment he was on his feet, with a 
shout, " Bless God ! I am home, and can look upon 
your faces once more ; but bless God above all 
things, that I have Christ in my soul. He lives 
and reigns there ; and not only in my heart, but, 
bless God ! here are some of my messmates, re- 
joicing in this very same Jesus, praise God ! 
And now, with the lady's permission, I will tell 
my experience: I went on shipboard the day 
after I was at the meeting at Mrs. Cuffey's, and 
at once determined to fight against sin. I took 



126 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

my Bible and read, then I went away and prayed. 
It was at the hour of the evening meeting ; I felt 
sure that you were praying for me, and O, how it 
helped me ! I went on deck, and my shipmates, 
who are here, gathered around me, and asked, 

" ' Say, Jack, wat 's matter ? Mad ?' 

" ' No,' I answered. 

" ' Awful glum — guess you Ve got devil in 
you/ 

" ' No/ I replied, ' I have got the devil out of 
me/ 

" This made a jolly laugh, but it did not touch 
me. I then told them of the meeting, and my 
promise. I told them of the gentle lady who had 
so sweetly prayed for me, but they only laughed, 
and said, 

" ' Yes, yes ; that 's good ; but wait till the grog 
comes round, when good-by all this/ 

" But, thank God ! they found me firm ; and as 
day after day rolled around, in the strength of 
Christ, I was able to hold on. They began to 
think, I reckon, and then they asked me to tell 
them of the lady, and what I read in the book. 
I told them, and urged each one to stop swear- 
ing, and begin to pray. They at last asked me 
to pray for them ; I did so ; and now they may 
tell their own story. As for me, I am still de- 
termined to press heavenward. I shall yet see 



MISSION WORK. . 127 

my mother in glory, through the love and power 
of Christ." 

The year was nearly closed, and for several 
days Mrs. Van Cott had anticipated a delicious 
spiritual feast at the Duane-Street Church, at the 
watch-night meeting, when the sacrament of the 
Lord's-Supper was to be administered. At the 
regular Tuesday evening meeting she had deter- 
mined to close in good season, and then go over 
to the church. As she approached the stand at 
Mrs. Cuffey's, on the Bible was a note containing 
a request from a goodly number of those present 
for her to hold a watch-meeting in the rooms 
where they were then gathered. This, for a few 
moments, was a great trial, and she could not 
refrain from tears at the disappointment. It 
seemed as if her life must be a continual sacrifice ; 
but the thought of sending away that large com- 
pany, many of whom might go into haunts of 
vice, could not be entertained. Perusing the note 
still more closely, she found they had selected a 
text for her, in the vision of Ezekiel concerning 
the wheels. How to handle it, on so short a 
notice, she could not tell, but after prayer, and 
strong pleading for help, the work was begun. 
Five hours seemed a great length of time, but the 
sermon studied up at home was used first, followed 
by a prayer and speaking meeting ; then came the 



128 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

text, " For the spirit of the living creature was in 
the wheels." During this discourse there was 
much commotion ; some were thoughtful, others 
weeping, and a few shouting aloud for joy. Dur- 
ing the second prayer-meeting penitents thronged 
the impromptu altar, and begged humbly for par- 
don and peace, in Jesus' name. 

As the hands of the clock told the approach of 
the mystic hour, all bowed low before God in 
prayer. It was as silent there as the grave, when 
presently the bell tolled the funeral knell of the 
old year. A few moments after the congregation 
arose and sung the New-Year's hymn. Happy 
greetings were exchanged after the benediction, 
but they could not leave for another hour, for 
three immortal souls were groaning for redemp- 
tion in Christ. 

She was too much exhausted to remain longer, 
well knowing that her child was lonely at home. 
While they were getting her wrappings, good old 
father Thompson, the gray-haired man, came for- 
ward to breathe a prophetic benediction upon her. 

" Praise God, dat like Mary ob old, you hab 
chosen de good part dat shall neber be taken 
away. Lor' dow has gibben dis dy chile many 
souls dat will shine foreber. Let de number in- 
crease, and afore dis yer closes let dare be a tou- 
sand souls planted in her crown ob rejoicin, so dat 



MISSION WORK. 129 

when Gabrel sounds de trumpet in dat gittin up 
mornin, she may, wid a shout, come up and cry, 
' Here am I, Lord, and de chilen dow hast gibben 
me/ God bress you, chile !" 

During this short episode there was silence 
again in the room, broken only now and then by 
a sob. 

Starting for home, she soon found that most of 
the street cars had ceased to run, and she must, 
of necessity, walk at least half a mile on the icy 
pavements. Great fears were awakened at home 
for her safety, but " He who giveth his angels 
charge," led her safely to the waiting loved ones. 

About this time she was deeply impressed with 
the necessity of having a Sabbath-school at the 
mission-room, which was not occupied in the 
afternoons. There were many neglected children 
playing on the streets, for whom no one seemed 
to care. Reporting the thought to the pastor, he 
replied, 

" I fear the Center-Street Mission will think ill 
of it, and the Franklin-Street Mission may con- 
clude we are running in opposition to them, and 
I do n't want to take the responsibility." 

"Why should we care," she answered, "so 
long as we desire no such thing ? Bless me, just 
look there!" opening the door and pointing to 
some thirty or more children in one group on 



130 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

the sidewalk of the Tombs. " There 's a Sun- 
day-school at once ; please say yes, and I will 
take all the blame." 

"Well, if you will do that, all right, but I won't 
have any thing to do with it." 

She at once called, and beckoned to the sharp 
little " street Arabs," who hesitated at first, then 
ventured to "go and see what the woman 
wanted." 

As they gathered around her, she told them 
she wanted to have a Sunday-school, and desired 
all to attend. At this a few shook their heads 
and ran away, while some lingered rather shyly. 
Then she said, 

"Do you love to sing?" 

" Yeth, thir," said one brave lad. 

"So do I, and if you will come next Sunday 
at two o'clock, I will teach you to sing and tell 
you some nice stories." 

One little fellow jogged his comrade with his 
elbow, saying, 

" Bill, let 's go for fun." 

" Yes, come for fun," she replied, " and see if 
we won't have a good time." 

They agreed to this and ran away. 

At the appointed hour on the next Sabbath, 
fifteen children entered the room, and she set 
about the no small task of teaching them to sing, 



MISSION WORK. I3T 

and holding their restless minds for a little time 
with the story of the Cross; and wound up by- 
some plain hints about untidy girls and boys who 
did not love Jesus, but who were on the way to 
ruin. As the time of closing drew near she de- 
sired to make them missionaries, and offered five 
cents for each new scholar they would bring in 
the next Sunday, and besides that, to those who 
came with faces all washed clean, she would 
give a sweet kiss. One little, bright-eyed boy 
called out : 

" Say, misses, if we each bring five fellers, will 
yer give five cents for each feller ?" With a 
smile at the young speculator she. answered, 

" Yes, five cents for each one." 

The next Sabbath the number increased to 
thirty, and with a supply of " five censes," as the 
boys called them, she met all of her agreements, 
as she supposed, promptly and honestly. But 
one young sharper of ten years, receiving his pay, 
retired to spend it for sugar-plums, and then the 
boy he had brought went out and led him back, 
and demanded the usual bounty. 

The little game was detected, and the fraud 
publicly exposed. 

She then arranged the school into classes, as 
several gentlemen from the surrounding churches 
offered to assist in teaching. At the close of the 



132 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

exercises, a dear, blue-eyed boy came forward, 
and looking up in her face, broke out with, 

" Say, misses, you forgot sullim' what yer said." 

" What, my child, have I forgotten ?" 

" Why, you said as how you 'd kiss us fellers 
what had clean faces, and an't mine clean ?" 

Quickly she remembered having seen some 
half a dozen youngsters at the hydrant before 
school opened, and this one was clean around his 
nose and mouth, if nowhere else. In a trice she 
showered kisses on his happy face to his com- 
plete satisfaction, when he scampered off very 
much delighted. 

The school prospered gloriously, and in a short 
time many gave evidence of having met with a 
change of heart. These were formed into classes 
according to the disciplinary form of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. 

One dear, precious girl could not exercise faith, 
though repeated prayer was offered in her behalf. 
She soon received the name of " Weeping Lizzie," 
being a child of many tears. 

At one time, while Mrs. Van Cott was pray- 
ing for her in a perfect agony of interest, being 
burdened for her soul, the child was more 
attracted by a large diamond ring on the finger 
of her sympathizing teacher than with her prayer. 
At once Mrs. Van Cott vowed before God, if 



MISSION WORK. 133 

that ring stood in the way of this or any other 
immortal soul, she would lay it aside. 

At the close of the day, on reaching home, and 
making known her intentions, all the friends de- 
clared that those Methodists were making her a 
perfect fanatic, and if she removed those gifts of 
departed ones, they would never speak to her 
again. But still she determined to follow the dic- 
tates of the Holy Spirit at whatever cost. The 
next Saturday, at the office, on opening her Bible, 
in a moment as she laid her hand on it, the vow 
and the duty came up vividly before her. 

Slowly she removed the rings and laid the 
price thereof, whatever they would bring, upon 
the altar of God. From that moment jewels lost 
their splendor and attractive power as a charm. 

The diamond rings were sold ipr several hun- 
dred dollars, and the money was used at the 
mission in paying rents for the poor, purchasing 
books, and at one time she took the whole school 
to see the "Panorama of Bunyan's Pilgrim's 
Progress," which was under the management of 
Philip Phillips, and was a grand entertainment. 

Many and happy were the hours spent in this 
work, and a great care it was truly, but not with- 
out its joys and often amusing scenes. 

A colored girl, of about twenty years of age, 
with a powerful alto voice, was a regular attend- 



134 M K& MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

ant at these meetings for a long time, and seemed 
to be much interested. Tears would flow, and 
she now and then engaged in prayer. After a 
while her seat was vacant at the meetings, and 
one day Mrs. Van Cott, meeting her on the street, 
asked, 

" Maria, have you been sick ? Why have you 
not been at the meetings? I thought you in- 
tended to seek the Savior." 

" Well, I toat so too, myself." 

" And now, my child, won't you ?" 

"Well, I guess not." 

" Why not ; do n't you think it is right ?" 

" O yes, yes, I does." 

" Won't you, then?" 

"Can't." 

" Why, tell me ?" 

A wicked twinkle in her black eye was seen, 
and with a toss of her head in the real Topsy 
style, she exclaimed, " Well, I '11 tell you. The 
debbil loves me so well, he won't gib me up, but 
I lub you, and wish I could be like you." 

" How sad our state by nature is, 
Our sin, how deep it stains, 
And Satan binds our captive souls, 
Fast in his slavish chains !" 




CHAPTER VIII. 



CLOUDS, TEMPTATIONS, AND SORROWS. 




HE sorrows of life will follow us to the 
end of time. Keenly did Mrs. Van Cott 
feel the fact that now alone she must 
battle with life's cares, ofttimes perplexed in her 
business, and now and then coming to a stand- 
still. 

Her earthly counselor was gone ; she knew not 
which way to turn for fear of going in the wrong 
direction. Edgar, her brother-in-law, was one of 
the excellent of earth, so far as outward morality 
was concerned, and his judgment in business af- 
fairs was of a very superior order, and on his 
counsel she relied almost implicitly. A small 
property had been left by her husband, but un- 
fortunately a street on one side of it had to be 
opened, widened, graded and paved. Her home 
must be moved, as nearly two lots of ground were 
required by the street ; and although an award 

*35 



136 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

was given by the city authorities, the assessments 
were so great that after the bills of moving, rais- 
ing and repairs were paid, there was nothing of 
consequence left. 

When she found that this was all gone, her 
mind was greatly depressed, for often she had 
thanked God for just a little upon which to lean 
in case of adversity. She wiped her tears away 
and said, " Surely Ed will never see me want for 
any thing while he has a dollar, and if I get in a 
tight spot he will help me." 

These were her hopes upon which she felt se- 
cure ; but how mysterious are God's ways, "past 
finding out !" 

One Sabbath Mr. Edgar Bedell and his dear 
little family came to visit where she was board- 
ing with Mrs. Bedell's sister. After dinner, be- 
fore going to the mission, she asked, " Ed, do n't 
you think that you are doing wrong in spending 
your Sabbaths visiting ? This day God has set 
apart for his worship, and you always use it for 
visiting. Do you think it is right?" 

" I do n't know, Maggie ; you know I am so 
occupied all the week in my business, unless I 
go on Sundays I can not go at all." 

" Would it not be better, then, not to go at all ?" 

" I have often thought I ought to go to church ; 
Sarah and I have talked it over, and I will, and 



CLOUDS, TEMPTATIONS, AND SORROWS, 137 

do mean to do better. I will secure me a seat in 
the Lee Avenue Church, now that the children 
are large enough. I will go to church at least 
once a day." 

" That 's good, but won't you commence now ? 
come, you and Sarah go over with me to the mis- 
sion." 

" No, it will be late before you close, and it will 
be cool toward evening, and the carriage will be 
here by four o'clock. I guess I won't go ; but 
I promise you, that next Sabbath I will commence 
anew and will rent a pew and go to church !" 

She hastened on to her work of labor and of 
love ; the dear ones were awaiting her coming, and 
as soon as she appeared over the Broadway and 
Leonard-street crossing, a bevy of romping, noisy, 
joyous children greeted and escorted her to the 
mission-room. In a moment all was hushed, then 
came a glad song of praise, and the exercises of de- 
votion and instruction in holy things commenced. 

Nothing more was thought of Edgar's promise 
until the next Saturday night ; so, after tea, she 
concluded to go over and see if his resolution was 
still the same. 

On reaching the elegant home, afid hastening 
into the sitting-room, she was met by Edgar's 
brother, who, with deep emotion, exclaimed, " O, I 
am so glad you have come, Edgar's dying." 



138 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

" It can 't be possible," she replied, and quickly 
hastened to the room, where the stricken wife was 
suffering terribly. A piercing wail of anguish 
burst from Mrs. Bedell's lips as soon as she saw 
her sister-in-law, for a most tender bond of affec- 
tion had ever existed between them. The doctor 
was still in the room, and Mrs. Van Cott asked, 
" Tell me of this matter ?" 

" On Wednesday," he replied, " Mr. Bedell took 
cold, Thursday he was complaining, yesterday was 
very sick, but I had no fears this morning, and he 
appeared better until an hour ago, and now, as 
mortification has taken place, he can not live more 
than an hour." 

" Is Ed conscious of the fact that he is dying ?" 

" O, no ; I would not have him know it, as it 
would certainly shorten his life." 

That was too much stoical infidelity for her, 
and especially when one so dear was on the very 
verge of time, unprepared, without God, and any 
immortal hope in Christ Jesus the Lord. 

" He must know his condition," she uttered 
quickly. 

" No, you must not see him, it will hasten his end." 

" I must and will see him." 

" Then you must take the responsibility" he 
answered very sarcastically, following it with a 
fiendish grin. 






CLOUDS, TEMPTA TIONS, AMD SORRO WS. 1 39 

" What ' responsibility ?' you tell me he can not 
live a single hour." 

" Well, you will take his life into your own hands, 
and I fear he won't live even an hour. ,, 

"Amen ; then I '11 give that precious life into 
the hands of God." 

She entered the sick chamber, and the moment 
the panting sufferer opened his eyes, he took her 
hand with both of his, and said tenderly, 

" O, Maggie, I am so glad to see you." 

" Brother, you are very sick," she spoke softly. 

" O, not so badly as they think," he gasped. 

" Brother Ed, suppose you should be called 
to die?" 

Reader, are you a formalist ? Listen to the 
words of this dying man, loved as he was by all 
who knew him, a pattern in many things for 
good, but to whom the words of the Savior 
would apply, " One thing thou lackest." 

Answering, he said, " O, my, not so bad as 
that !" 

With a sinking heart, she said plainly, " Edgar, 
in one hour you will be done with the things of 
time. Are you ready to meet your God ?" 

" I am afraid not." 

" Then, dear brother, look to Jesus." 

"It is too late," he replied, with deep emotion. 

She tried to tell him of the mercy of God, 



140 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

which saves to the uttermost, and of the dying 
thief, who trusted in Christ even at the last hour. 

" Will you sing for me ?" he asked. 

Under the weight of sorrow, she sang as best 
she could, 

"Stay, thou insulted Spirit, stay, 

Though I have done thee such despite, 
Nor cast the sinner quite away, 

Nor take thine everlasting flight," etc., 

and then poured out her heart in earnest prayer 
in his behalf. He was urged to pray for himself, 
and plead the precious name of Jesus. He lifted 
his eyes heavenward with a most imploring look, 
his lips moved, the gaze was fixed, and in a 
moment more he was gone. 

Was he saved in that last look ? Were the 
sins of years washed away in that moment ? 
Eternity alone can tell. To the doubts as to 
his future happiness she could but say, " God 
forbid that I should risk the salvation of my 
soul until the dying hour!" Thus the danger 
of procrastination. On the coming Sabbath he 
had expected to take his family to church and 
begin a new life, but before that hour arrived his 
cold form was awaiting the time of burial. 

"Lo ! on a narrow neck of land, 
'Twixt two unbounded seas I stand, 
Secure, insensible; 



CLOUDS, TEMPTATIONS, AND SORROWS. 141 

A point of time, a moments space, 
Removes me to that heavenly place, 
Or shuts me up in hell.' , 

Gathered around that bed of death was the 
crushed wife, three orphan children, and a large 
circle of relatives and friends. The funeral was 
sad, indeed. The house was full of gloom, and 
in the future there seemed a darker shadow com- 
ing to Mrs. Van Cott than ever. Prop after prop 
had been taken away, so that when she thought 
of business and support there was no one on 
whom to lean save the strong arm of God. 

The young missionary, Rev. Alfred Battersby, 
had frequently called at the office, and their 
acquaintance had ripened into warm friendship. 
He ran in one day, sat down at the desk, and 
commenced writing a letter. Without stopping 
to think, she asked, "Alfred, to whom are you 
writing ?" and at once offered an apology for the 
rudeness of the address. 

" I am writing to my sister." 

Although they had been acquainted for a year 
and a half, this was the first time she had heard 
of his having a sister. 

" I did not know you had a sister. How old 
is she ?" 

" Yes, I have a little sister, about fifteen, by 
the name of Estella." 



142 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

" If it would not be rude I would like to write 
to her, for truly she has a sweet name." 

" Please do write ; she would be delighted.'' 

She took the pen, wrote a few lines, and sent 
her photograph to the " little sister." In a few 
days a letter came, with this sentence : " If this 
is a true picture, I wish you would come and see 
us in our mountain home, for I know I should 
love you very much. Mother joins me in this 
invitation." 

A very interesting correspondence commenced, 
and others at last joined in the request for her to 
come. She had toiled for many years without 
the slightest recreation, and finally consented to 
go, with the understanding that Estella, who had 
never been eight miles from home in her life, 
should return with her and spend two weeks in 
the city. This was finally agreed to, and prepa- 
rations were speedily made for a trip to Durham, 
Greene county, New York, just for a nice rest 
and pleasant visit at the parsonage of Rev. John 
Battersby. 

The journey was tedious, all night on the boat, 
twenty miles by stage, and the last two in a car- 
riage, which finally landed her at the parsonage. 
Imagine the surprise when a two Jmndred pound 
lady came out, opened the gate, and answered to 
the name of " my dear little sister Estella." The 



CLOUDS, TEMPTATIONS, AND SORROWS. 1 43 

joke was a good one, but the warm welcome and 
Christian cheerfulness made her forget the cold 
as they joined freely in talking of mission work 
and the cause of Christ in general. 

On the morrow she went out in the field and 
assisted the men in cutting corn-stalks. At the 
barn she saw them thrashing grain with flails. 
This also was new to her, and in trying "iter 
hand" a few strokes completely satisfied her 
curiosity, and she was ready for something else. 
The fanning-mill afforded a good illustration, as 
she saw the chaff driven away and the clean 
wheat shoveled into the great bins. 

During the afternoon she learned that there 
were revival services being held at the church 
in Cornellsville, about a mile and a half distant, 
and she determined to attend that evening. The 
moon shone brightly, and the walk was very 
pleasant to the house of God, where hearts were 
made glad in a Savior's love. Her strong, clear 
voice attracted attention, and during the exer- 
cises of the prayer and speaking meeting the 
young people frequently handed her their books, 
marking pieces for her to sing as opportunity 
offered. Each evening found her at the church, 
at a cost of a walk of three miles and badly blis- 
tered feet. 

One Sabbath she was invited to help the choir, 



144 MRS - MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

and it was declared " sich a singer had never been 
in these yer parts afore." In the evening the 
choir occupied seats in the body of the church. 
The meeting progressed splendidly, when pres- 
ently an old lady came to the seat beside her, 
leaned over, and addressed Mrs. Battersby's son, 
whose deep bass voice had so well accompa- 
nied the clear soprano and the " little sister's " 
choice alto. 

"Alzie," she whined, "you must stop this 
singin\ There's many would like to speak, and 
if you keep up this continued sing, sing, sing, 
they won't get a chance to speak. Mind, I tell 
you this in love, but it must be stopped." 

There was a question about " love " in that 
keen, snappish address, but doubtless music was 
not pleasing to the old lady, and, as they had not 
sung more than a single stanza between the testi- 
monies, they could not be much out of order. 
But the young people were hurt, and whispered, 
" Do n't sing another bit, will you ?" 
" We will see about it," she answered. 
After a few more had spoken, and no hymn 
sung, the people began to look around and won- 
der at the pause. At this the whole strength of 
the choir broke out in the strains of that grand 
old hymn, 

"How tedious and tasteless the hours," etc., 



CLOUDS, TEMPTATIONS, AND SORROWS. 1 45 

and, as the whole congregation caught with them 
the second line, the good old lady sprang to her 
feet, jumping and shouting aloud the praises of 
God so lustily as fairly to drown the great volume 
of song. The meeting closed, and, as the people 
were retiring, a lady exclaimed, " The minister 
did not appoint a meeting for to-morrow night !" 

The shouting lady heard the remark, and re- 
sponded, 

" A meeting ! No use of appointing meetings ; 
the devil 's in the place ; people care more for 
singing than they do for their souls." 

At this moment the voice of Rev. J. Battersby 
was heard announcing services in. his own neigh- 
borhood for the next evening. 

When the time arrived the place was crowded, 
and it was a season of great refreshing from the 
presence of the Lord. They sang long after the 
meeting closed, as she expected to return on the 
morrow, and would have to say farewell. At the 
parsonage she was met by another party, begging 
her to sing just one or two more sweet hymns 
for them. At midnight they all kneeled around 
the family altar in thanksgiving for all the bless- 
ings received during the happy visit among the 
newly made friends. 

Next day they started for the city ; and, as one 
exclamation after another came from Estellas lips, 



146 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

the scene became very interesting. The steam- 
boat, the supper-gong, and, to cap the climax, the 
scream of the whistle, and the swiftly running 
cars, fairly entranced the heart of the precious 
young girl. Reaching the city, she became fairly 
wild with excitement as she saw the stores and 
streets brilliantly illuminated with gas. Two 
weeks were spent in sight-seeing — all of the great 
points of interest were visited, and the hour of 
her return came. Poor Estella felt it sadly, and 
the tears rained down her cheeks. It was long 
before those hours of intense interest and brilliant 
scenes ceased to be the subject of daily conver- 
sation among her friends at home. 

In the early part of November the afflicting 
hand of God was again laid upon the aged mother- 
in-law. Week after week, for nearly three months, 
she lingered and suffered. The anxious watch- 
ings and cares were shared by the sisters-in-law. 
After the toils of the day at the office Mrs. Van 
Cott would hasten to the bedside of the ripe 
Christian ; and no one was more welcome at the 
couch of the suffering one. The scenes and trials 
of other days were talked over, and memories ran 
back to the time when dear ones were with them. 
Tears were sure to fall as they lived over again 
the scenes of other days. 

One Saturday afternoon word came to the office 



CLOUDS, TEMPTATIONS, AND SORROWS. 1 47 

that she was worse. All business was laid aside, 
and Mrs. Van Cott hastened again to the home 
of sadness. One look convinced her that the 
hour drew near when death would claim another 
victim. Turning to Mrs. Contrell, she said, 

"Debbie, mother will not live another night; 
this is her last on earth ; let us remain as watchers 
with her." 

The poor sufferer was very restless, talked in- 
cessantly, but toward morning became more quiet. 
About 6 o'clock they called the family for the 
final farewell. When she was nearly gone Mrs. 
Van Cott asked, 

" Mother, do you know me ?" 

"Yes, my child." 

" You will soon be with our own dear loved 
one ; tell him I am struggling to gain that blessed 
shore." 

" I will, my child," she whispered softly. 

"Are the waters cold ?" 

" O ! no." 

" Is Jesus with you ?" 

" Yes, my child." 

A quiet sigh, a gentle murmur, coming far 
across the sea of death, and the echoes died away 
on the shores of time forever. The two daugh- 
ters and the daughter-in-law were alone with their 
dead. 



I48 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

As the morning of February 2, 1868, dawned, 
for the third time in less than two years they 
wept by the couch of departed kindred. Earthly 
joys were, one by one, taken away ; but the heart 
more fervently clung to Him, who is the same 
yesterday, to-day, and forever. 




CHAPTER IX. 



THE WIDENING FIELD. 




HE work at the mission prospered ; but, 
as Winter set in, the people in Greene 
county began again their earnest en- 
treaty for another visit. 

"Do come and see us," wrote Estella. "Father 
has gone over the mountains to spend several 
weeks preaching, and we are so lonesome here in 
this mountain home. The snow is three feet 
deep, but the roads are open, so that it is glorious 
sleighing. ,, 

These pressing letters kept coming each week, 
until she began to consider the matter seriously ; 
and, as business was a little dull, she thought a 
few days among the mountains would be quite 
desirable. 

On the 1 8th of February, 1868, one of the coldest 
days of that Winter, she left the city to " rusti- 
cate " among the snow-drifts of Greene county. 

149 



1 5 O MRS. MA G GIE NE WTON VAN CO TT. 

During the ride from Catskill to the parsonage 
nothing of interest occurred, save upsetting three 
times into the abundant snow-drifts, a bruised 
shoulder, and nose, two fingers, and six toes 
frozen. The dear ones had retired, but soon 
arose, and, with the cheerful fire, made her doubly 
welcome. 

Little did she know that night of the new 
scenes and trials about to open, and how near 
she was to the vantage-ground of a wider field 
of usefulness. In the morning the family gathered 
in the cozy sitting-room for prayers. The aged 
father in , Israel conducted the devotions. He 
was one of those great, good-hearted men, whose 
Christian deportment and sound judgment im- 
pressed all with whom he associated — tall and 
heavy, with full chest, high forehead, and white 
hair, he was one of the noble of earth. A slight 
stroke of palsy had disturbed his nerves, and his 
whole frame trembled, despite his strong will and 
best endeavors to steady his hand. They sat in 
quiet meditation for a moment after devotions, 
when Rev. John Battersby arose, took the family 
Bible, crossed the room, and handed it to Mrs. 
Van Cott, saying, 

" Child, I want you to take this book, look out 
a subject, and preach for us at the school-house 
to-night." 



THE WIDENING FIELD, 1 5 I 

Completely overcome with surprise, she turned 
pale, hesitated, and finally said, " Sir, I can not 
preach." 

" Why, Charley" — his son at the Leonard-street 
mission — " writes us that you preach three or four 
times each week, and it is a pity you can not 
preach for us once." 

" Father Battersby, I never attempted to preach ; 
I do not understand the first rule. I do the best 
I can to talk for Jesus, and praise his name — he 
saves precious souls — but as to leading a meeting 
here, I can not do it ; but if you will go on with 
your meeting, I will do my part." 

" No, you must preach." 

" Excuse my rudeness ; but I will not." 

"Why not?" 

" Because I am not willing to show myself so 
foolish. You tell me there are four local preach- 
ers within a mile of this place, and they know 
much more of the Bible than I. The people on 
the Five Points are very illiterate, and I do not 
mind speaking to them, but I can not here." 

Placing the Bible in her lap, he continued, 
" The people expect it, and you must!' 

" If the people expect it, it is your fault ;" and 
she began to weep. m 

" Do n't feel bad ; we never have more than ten 
or twelve persons out, and Charley says you 



152 MRS.. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

sometimes speak to a hundred and fifty at your 
meeting. Come, cheer up, God will help you." 

Left alone with the thought "you must 
preach," strange memories ran through her mind. 
The word "preach" as applied to her efforts, was 
always harsh, and undesirable ; and then some 
thoughtless persons were ever putting " Rev." on 
her letters, a thing she could never sanction ; and 
then she remembered a certain dream of some 
, months agone. Of dreams she cared but little, 
but this one was peculiar. It ran thus : 

In her accustomed place at church she heard a 
voice saying, " You must preach." 

" You are mistaken ; I do not know how to 
preach," she replied to the unseen messenger. 

" It makes no difference ; you must preach." 

" I am a lady ; it is the work of the gentlemen 
to preach." 

" Come," the voice continued, " the church is 
crowded, and the people expect it." 

As she obeyed, and ascended the pulpit, the 
thought arose, " I '11 do the very best I can to tell 
the people of the love of Jesus." 

The house was indeed crowded, but she saw no 
one in particular, save a dear old gentleman sit- 
ting near the altar. After services she asked one 
of the brethren, " Can you tell me who that gen- 
tleman is, with his silver hair dressed in a cue?" 



THE WIDENING FIELD. 1 53 

" That is Rev. John Wesley, the founder of 
Methodism." 

A shudder passed over her frame, and she 
asked again, " Have I been speaking before one 
so talented as Mr. Wesley?" 

At this moment he stepped forward, took her 
trembling hand, saying, "Do not be alarmed, my 
child ; you will speak before greater than I." 

The whole dream had such a vividness, and so 
many things in harmony with the duties then 
before her, that to hesitate longer might be sin. 
True, Wesley was dead, dreams were nothing ; 
but an aged veteran was before her, and others 
would be there, of sound mental and theological 
culture. 

And then, again, previous to her leaving the 
city, a lady friend, to whom she had intrusted her 
class-meeting, asked, "Was you ever called to 
preach ?" 

To which she answered, "No, never!' 

" Was you called for a class-leader ?" 

" No." 

" What was you called for, then ?" 

" I do not know, unless it was to live for God, 

and make my way to heaven ; and I find this 

about as much as I can do. Take good care of 

my children, and, God willing, I will be at home 

next week." 

13 



154 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

But to return : Evening came, and at " early 
candle-light " the family started for the school- 
house, which they found crowded with people. 
She was conducted to the desk, but it was so 
small and near the wall there was no room for a 
chair, or a place for her to sit down, and for 
people of her size it would be exceedingly diffi- 
cult even to kneel down, and so she was obliged 
to conduct the meeting standing all the time. 

The Word was opened, and the story of the 
cross told to the believing and the erring. 

At the close a score or more pressed around, 
calling, " Please, sister, have meeting to-morrow 
night." 

She was somewhat embarrassed, but after a 
moment in prayer, saying, " Here am I, Lord," 
she consented, and the news flew all over the 
neighborhood. 

Next evening the school-house could not hold 
the people, who had come from all directions. 
Some tarried outside as long as they could endure 
the cold. The meeting was good, and after the 
curiosity was over, some felt the need of clean 
hearts and pardon in Jesus. As the place could 
not hold the people, she was asked, " Will you 
conduct services in the Hervey-Street Baptist 
Church, about a mile from here, if it can be ob- 
tained ?" 



THE WIDENING FIELD. 155 

To this she consented. Then another delega- 
tion wanted to know if she would "preach there 
on Sunday night." 

"I have no objections to talking for Jesus at 
that hour," was the reply. 

" Will you also hold meeting on Monday even- 
ing?" 

" No ; I must return to New York on Monday." 

Sunday evening a grand sleigh-load drove up 
to the Baptist Church, which had been locked for 
more than a year, where already an audience had 
assembled. As soon as she arrived at the table 
in front of the stand she found that the two can- 
dles on the sides of the wall, and the one over the 
pulpit, did not give sufficient light for reading the 
hymn. Asking the gentleman who acted as jani- 
tor to get another light, he replied, "Why do n't 
you go into the pulpit ?" 

To this she objected ; and, waiting a moment, 
he continued, " I can 't get a lamp very well ; go 
in the pulpit, every body does." 

No sooner had her feet touched that spot than 
she felt overpowered by the step taken. In the 
silent prayer that followed, the burden of her 
prayer was, " If this step is right, O God, give 
me to see souls seeking thee this very night." 

This burden had not been before her mind on 
the. evenings previous, but now the great question 



156 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

of standing in the pulpit and proclaiming salva- 
tion to all, nearly overwhelmed her. She re- 
mained longer kneeling than usual, but arose with 
a sweet consciousness of the presence of Christ 
When speaking she soon forgot the pulpit, left it, 
and in the strong exhortation for sinners to " flee 
from the wrath to come," she found herself part 
way down the aisle. Eight persons came forward 
for prayers, and knelt at the " anxious seat," 
weeping in deep anguish of spirit. 

Sabbath day a storm raged till three o'clock, 
but the family had a good day at the parsonage, 
reading sermons. In the evening the clouds 
scattered, and it became clear, and very cold. 
The church was so full of people that many feared 
for their safety. The house trembled under its 
great burden, but no sill nor timber gave way 
during all of the meetings. 

When the opportunity was offered, the " anx- 
ious seat " was again filled, this time with middle- 
aged and old people. Some found peace in Jesus, 
while others were yet in sorrow and deep peni- 
tence. Near the time of closing she bade the 
congregation and friends farewell, expeeting to 
return home in the morning. 

Father Battersby arose, laid his trembling hand 
on her shoulder, shaking her whole frame, and 
pointing toward the mourners, asked, 



THE WIDENING FIELD, 157 

" Do you dare to go away, and leave that 
work?" 

" That is not my work ; it is God's work," she 
replied. 

"Yes ; but He sent you here to do it." 

" But, sir, you told me that six ministers were 
in the house to-night ; you can conduct the meet- 
ings. I must go home ; you know I have left my 
business and my child." 

" Yes ; but these immortal souls ?" 

" I understand ; but I do n't see how I can 
possibly remain." 

At last she consented to stay until Wednesday ; 
but when the work of that evening was closing, 
fifteen souls were yet at the altar of prayer, many 
of them for the first time ; most all of them over 
thirty, and two or three between sixty and seventy 
years of age. And now the people, and espe- 
cially the young converts, urged so strongly, that 
she consented to remain for a time indefinite. 

Six weeks passed, and God gave her seventy- 
five souls, as seals to the work, and the step she 
had taken had received the Divine approval. 

At the close of the last meeting, the presiding 
elder of this (the Plattsville) district, was intro- 
duced to her, and said, " Over at Hunter they are 
having protracted meetings, and it is your duty to 
go and help them." 



158 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

" I can not see duty in that direction," she an- 
swered. " I have not seen my child in six weeks, 
and my business has been at a stand-still, while 
my expenses have been running on, amounting 
now to hundreds of dollars. I must go to New 
York ; but I will come to you, and spend a few 
days, if you desire, providing you will send to 
Catskill for me." 

"It shall be done, and we will consider that 
settled. ,, 

It was hard to part with the young converts ; 
but that over, weary and worn, she reached her 
home next day. There was no time now to rest ; 
she must go immediately among her customers, 
and take orders. All sorts of inquiries had been 
instituted during her long absence, but they were 
glad of her return, and business was royal. 

The following Friday another trial came. Her 
daughter was lonely, and disliked exceedingly to 
have mamma away. This time she desired to 
accompany her, but it was not deemed best, as 
she had a good home and kind friends. Reach- 
ing Catskill about three, P. M., she found no one 
awaiting her coming. The anguish of parting 
with her daughter had brought on a severe head- 
ache, and she was so disappointed in not finding 
any one awaiting her coming, that she finally con- 
cluded to take the evening boat and return home. 



THE WIDENING FIELD.. 1 59 

While out shopping she was recognized by a local 
preacher from her late field of labor, who, learning 
of her intentions, remonstrated, saying, " The 
road through the mountain pass is very bad ; 
they, no doubt, started for you, but have broken 
down, or been delayed by something ; and, be- 
sides, a host of the young converts expect to drive 
over to Hunter on Sabbath. Do stay ; some one 
will be after you, I am sure." 

She returned to the hotel, ordered the coach to 
call in the morning, and retired, weary, heart-sick, 
and lonely. She cried herself to sleep, and was 
aroused in the morning by a heavy knock, and 
stentorian lungs calling, " Time for stage in half 
an hour." She prepared quickly, and on looking 
out found it snowing very hard. In due time the 
stage arrived, a very uncomfortable-looking con- 
cern, without any top, or covering whatever, to 
protect travelers from the pelting storm. She 
took a seat in the rattling old vehicle, without 
even an umbrella, and was really glad her daugh- 
ter was at home. Seven tedious hours they plod- 
ded along, and finally arrived at Hunter, not 
knowing a person in the place, and having for- 
gotten the minister's name. This the driver 
learned at the post-office, and drove to the par- 
sonage, where the minister's wife smilingly met 
her, saying, " I will explain what may seem very 



l60 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

strange to you. We have been holding meetings 
some six weeks, and had a glorious work ; twen- 
ty-five souls were converted. My husband has 
gone to Conference. We have a preacher for to- 
morrow, and so I thought I would not send for 
you." 

Glad in heart to leave the place, she said, 
" Please tell me where your hotel is, that I may 
get a conveyance and go over to Father Batters- 
by's,and it will all be right.' , 

" O, you need not hire a buggy ; I will send 
mine as soon as I collect enough to pay your fare 
on the stage." 

"Never mind the stage fare, that is settled. 
Get the buggy ; it is now three o'clock, and four- 
teen miles yet to drive ; let me hasten on my 
way." 

Just then a knock was heard at the door, and 
one of the official members came in. After the 
usual salutation he said, " You can 't go to Dur- 
ham to-night, want you to preach for us." 

" No, I am not willing to be in the way of any 
minister," she answered, " and you have one for 
to-morrow ; let me go." 

"Leave that to me," he replied; "will you 
preach for us to-night T 

" I might talk a little, if the people desire." 

The information spread rapidly, the church bell 



THE WIDENING FIELD. l6l 

was rung, and the powerful voice of the official 
member was heard crying, 

" That air woman preacher has come, and is 
goin' to hold forth to-night." 

In due time the house was quite full, and she 
spoke the best she could for the Master. At the 
close they wanted her to speak to the Sunday- 
school at half-past nine, in the morning, preach at 
ten and a half, lead class, and preach again in the 
evening. What strength she had was cheerfully 
given to the Master. The class, following the 
morning services, lasted till two o'clock, and 
when she reached the parsonage her strength 
was nearly gone. 

In the evening another delegation requested 
her to stay in the place for two weeks at least, 
and hold meetings. This was finally disposed of 
by referring the question to the Lord in prayer, 
and to be considered accepted if three souls pre- 
sented themselves at the altar for prayers that 
night. 

This committee had hardly retired, before an- 
other called from a distant charge, saying, " Do 
come and preach for us one Sabbath before you 
return to New York." Not aware that minis- 
terial etiquette demanded an invitation from the 
pastor in charge, she consented, and proved in 
this that "ignorance was bliss." 



1 62 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

During the evening, although unusual effort 
was made, only one person came forward for 
prayers, so the next morning she left for Durham. 
Reaching Father Battersby's house, she retired, 
and through indisposition never quitted her room 
for three days. On Thursday, being much bet- 
ter, word flew around and a fine congregation 
gathered again in Hervey-Street Church. She 
met the children in Christ, pressed the cause of 
truth again, and five more were added to their 
number. Another meeting was appointed for the 
next evening, but a drifting snow-storm blocked 
up the roads, and it was impossible to reach the 
church. Saturday the roads were opened, and 
a brisk team plunged on through the sparkling 
snow to Windham Center. 

They were met at the gate of the parsonage by 
the good minister, who kindly welcomed her to 
his home. While at supper she felt some em- 
barrassment, for it was evident she was closely 
watched, though a pure, Christian deportment 
rested upon all the household. Meeting was 
announced for the same evening, and in the closet 
and at the family altar before Church services, the 
presence of God was felt. 

The aisles of the beautiful little church seemed 
very long as she followed the pastor, who knelt 
with her at the altar in prayer. Arising, he 



THE WIDENING FIELD. 1 63 

stepped to her side and said, "Take the pulpit;" 
she hesitated a moment, but finally obeyed orders. 

The pulpit is doubtless no more sacred than 
any other part of the house of God, but education 
and custom have given to it a sanctity which is 
questionable. A hill-side, a mountain, or any 
spot that will command the eyes and ears of the 
people, is a fitting place to proclaim the Gospel. 

A breathless stillness pervaded the audience, 
as she arose and opened the service. In the altar 
sat the pastor, Rev. A. C. Morehouse, one of 
God's noblemen, watchful and careful for his 
flock. The meeting closed, with several seekers 
inquiring the way to the Cross of Christ, and a 
few were made to rejoice. 

" This is glorious," shouted the pastor as they 
entered the parsonage ; " did you expect to see 
sinners start to-night ?" 

" Certainly I did ; was not that what we prayed 
for ?" she answered. 

The Sabbath dawned brightly, and people came 
from many miles around, eager to " hear the wom- 
an." Many questions were asked the good pas- 
tor and his family, such as, " Who is she ?" " Where 
from ?" " Where 's her home ?" " How long has 
she been in the work ?" " Has she any family ?" 
" When did her husband die ?" etc. 

The day passed sweetly in holy worship ; the 



1 64 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

house seemed the vestibule of that temple just 
out of sight. 

In the evening the altar was filled with seekers, 
and many serious ones in the congregation were 
almost persuaded to become Christians. 

Again the minister rejoiced. " I never saw it 
on this fashion. This is the work of God, and 
you can not leave us." 

" I must go and attend to my much-neglected 
business." 

" Do stop for a few days ; the people are greatly 
moved. Last Winter I toiled and got the best 
help I could, and ran the meeting three weeks, 
and not one soul moved. Now, on this, the second 
evening, only look ! You will stay ; you can not 
feel at liberty to go." 

" But my child and my business, what of them ?" 

" God will care for them and you, too." She con- 
sented to remain until Wednesday, and the meet- 
ings were so announced. There were gatherings 
also, in the afternoons, and the work broke out 
afresh. When Wednesday arrived it was impossible 
to get away from the urgent pleaders, and again 
the time was extended indefinitely. Seven weeks 
passed in this wonderful work, with but two days' 
intermission for her to go to New York city and 
return with her child, as the mothers heart could 
endure the separation no longer. 




CHAPTER X. 



REVIVAL INCIDENTS. 




ANY were the incidents during the meet- 
ings which she held, but only a limited 
number can be given. One evening in 
passing through the congregation, as was her cus- 
tom, speaking to this one and that, she observed 
an old gentleman weeping very freely. 

" Have you ever given your heart to the Savior ?" 
she asked. 

" No, never," was the subdued reply. 
"Do you not think it is time, sir? Your gray 
hairs tell me that time with you will soon be no 
more. Won't you give your heart to Jesus to- 
night ?" 

" O no, not to-night," was the prompt answer. 

" Stop ! That sentence has damned millions. 

Listen and think ! Christ teaches in his blessed 

Word that we should be ready for his coming, and 

that we should be prepared to meet our God, as 

165 



1 66 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

we know not when the death angel may come. 
Do hear me, sir. This night thy soul may be 
required of thee. O, come to Jesus now, for now 
is the accepted time, and behold now is the day 
of salvation. Do you desire to be saved ?" 

" God knows I do." 

" Give me your hand, come go to the altar and 
we will pray for you, and you may go home justi- 
fied through faith in the blood of Christ. ,, 

He endeavored to arise, but the enemy held him 
down. She saw the step must be taken then, 
and feeling deeply for him in his lost condition, 
said, 

"Dear sir, I command you, in the name of 
Christ, arise and walk ;" and with a desperate 
effort, as one breaking away from a foe, he arose 
and started in haste for the altar. 

There they knelt in prayer for a season, when 
she arose and returned to the congregation. 

During the speaking-meeting which followed, 
all who had found peace in Christ were asked to 
acknowledge what the Master had done for them, 
and give him the praise. Several beautiful testi- 
monies were given, and the meeting closed. 

The poor old man arose and left the altar the 
very picture of despair. Subsequently she learned 
that he was a wealthy man, but by his intemper- 
ate habits was a terror to his family. 



REVIVAL INCIDENTS. 1 67 

The pastor remarked, " Do, for his soul's sake, 
follow up that case with your earnest prayers." 

That evening, while the conversation concern- 
ing the meeting was going on in the home circle, 
one of the members of the family remarked, 

" Mr. P says Mrs. Van Cott is some broken- 
down actress from New York come out here on a 
catch." 

" O," said another, " Mr. J said she was a 

bad woman from New York, and he would not 
trust her without watching." 

" Yes, and I heard," said another, " that Col. 
R thinks it an abominable shame, and de- 
clares the Methodist Church will never get 
over the disgrace of allowing a woman in the 
pulpit. And if she should put her foot in the 
Presbyterian Church [of which he was a mem- 
ber], he would soon show her the door and put 
her out." 

Here all laughed except the stricken one. Her 
heart fluttered like a wounded bird. At family 
prayers she was too much crushed under the blow 
to have any command of utterance for some mo- 
ments. 

Finally she prayed earnestly for those who had 
spoken evil of the good she was trying to do, 
and of their intended thrusts at her Christian 
standing. 



1 68 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

In her room alone with God, and where no eye 
could see but his, the bruised and aching heart 
cried out in agony. Never before in her whole 
life had any evil surmising, or evil rumors 
reached her ears. Remembering her slumber- 
ing dead, and her own defenseless state, she 
prayed most earnestly to die. The barbed arrow 
was too sharp and well driven for a slight wound. 
A sad wail was heard in her room by the fam- 
ily, and the cause easily understood. 

While she prayed to die and be removed from 
the throng that had spoken such bitter things, a 
consoling voice was heard sweetly whispering in 
her soul, " My grace is sufficient ;" and at once a 
quiet peace stole over the troubled heart. Again, 
" That God whom thou serveth, to whom thou 
must render an account, knoweth the innocence 
of thy soul concerning the things whereof these 
accuse thee." 

She answered, " I care naught for the things said, 
but I fear I have gone too far in going into the 
pulpit ; still I know souls have been blessed in 
this place. And now, dear Father, if thy serv- 
ant is doing thy will in thine own appointed way, 
and hast not committed an offense in thy sight, 
show her, by converting Mr. Bloodgood this very 
night, so that he may rejoice with abundant joy. 
Grant this, my Father, to thy servant, and all the 



REVIVAL INCIDENTS. 1 69 

world combined shall never move me." Her 
sleep was sweet that night. 

As the next evening drew on, she had almost 
forgotten the request made to the Eternal Father, 
but while speaking she saw the despairing look 
of Mr. B., and at once remembered the scenes of 
the past night. While they were singing and 
many were gathering around the altar, she passed 
clown the aisle and asked, 

" Brother, are you going to the altar ?" 

" No ! I would not suffer another day as I have 
to-day for the world." 

" Amen ! I am thankful for that I do n't 
want you should ; so I pray you come to Jesus, 
for until you give yourself fully to him, you will 
never know peace." 

Looking up fully in her face, he exclaimed, " I 
tell you, I ant going to that altar !" 

" Yes you will, when I tell you that Satan 
would sift you as wheat, and would destroy you 
if he could, but I come to you, and in Christ's 
stead, plead with you for your own soul ; do, 
please, give it to Jesus, that you may be happy 
here and hereafter." 

" God knows I want to be happy." 

" Give me your hand, then, and let me lead you 
again to the altar." 

H 



I70 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

" O, if I thought there was mercy for me, I 
would I" 

The grip of the old Satanic power was again 
upon him, and he seemed unable to break away. 

While she stood a moment in prayer, and 
he weeping, she felt that that power must be 
broken. 

" Mr. Bloodgood, I invite, nay, I entreat you ; 
no ! no ! in the name of God I command you to 
arise and walk. Seek earnestly to-night ; give up 
all to the Savior, and if God does not send an 
answer of peace, I will join with you in declaring 
his word is not true, and also that there is no 
salvation for you. But you must comply with the 
requirements of the Gospel ; sell all and trust 
fully in Christ's blood." 

Slowly he arose saying, " I '11 try it this once ; 
if I do n't succeed, I '11 never go again." She left 
him at the altar among the other seekers, weeping 
and praying. After an hour spent around the 
church, urging others to seek Jesus, she returned 
to the altar and invited any who had been blessed 
to arise and speak a word for the Master. The 
invitation was scarcely given before father B. was 
on his feet, his face radiant as sunlight, while 
tears of gladness rained down his cheeks. Mrs. 
Van Cott cried out, 

" What is the matter, brother ?" 



RE VIVAL INCIDENTS. 1 7 1 

" Matter ! Glory to God, my sins are all blot- 
ted out ; I am saved, praise the Lord !" 

A loud shout was given by many, and the con- 
gregation sung, 

"Jesus saves me just now," etc 

The victory was complete ; the petition had been 
granted, and she stood on safe ground. The 
world might say what it would, that point was 
forever settled. The pulpit was her place, if it 
was the most convenient place to speak from. 
Never did criticisms in after days disturb her in 
the least in reference to this. 

It will be proper to state that two of those who 
made the cruel remarks about- her were sweetly 
converted to God, and became her warm friends. 
The daughter of the good Presbyterian brother 
was among the happy believers, and gave a very 
pressing invitation for Mrs. Van Cott to take tea 
at her house. Some thought she had better not 
go, fearing that the father might hurt her feelings 
with some unkind remark ; but she was fully con- 
vinced that a gentleman could not so far forget 
himself as to make a " remark " in his own house 
that would insult an invited guest. 

According to appointment she went, and had 
a very pleasant visit with Colonel Robinson's 
mother, wife, and daughter, during the afternoon. 
At supper time the Colonel had not yet arrived, 



1/2 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

but came in while they were eating, greeted her 
kindly, took his seat at the head of the table be- 
side her, and, after a few remarks had passed be- 
tween them, laid down his knife, pushed back his 
chair, and, turning to Mrs. Van Cott, in a very 
graceful tone, said, 

" Will you allow me to ask you a few questions ?" 

" Certainly, sir, only please do not trouble me 
with doctrinal questions — I never argue on those 
questions." 

" O no ; but tell me — ahem — were you ever — 
ahem — an actress f" 

She had been fearing some profound Biblical 
question ; but this, coming as it did, caused a 
smile. 

" No"— and, pausing a moment, she said, " Yes." 

"Aha! aha! Wife, I told you so; I was sure 
of it." 

" Yes, I have been an actress," she continued, 
" on the stage of life for thirty-eight years, but, 
sir, none other. I never spoke one word before an 
audience until I entered this work, but once, and 
that was at the age of eight years, at a Sunday- 
school anniversary." 

" But you can not deny that you have made a 
great study to read aloud ?" he continued, pressing 
the case to a new conclusion. 

" Sir, in this you also make a great mistake. I 



REVIVAL INCIDENTS. 1 73 

have never read aloud since I left school, save to 
father and mother-in-law. To them I have read 
' Uncle Tom's Cabin,' by Mrs. Stowe ; and to my 
sick and dying husband I read several Methodist 
works." 

"Well, well! I have one more question, and 
I am sure you will answer it to my satisfaction. 
You have made a study of, and practiced making 
gestures ?" 

This was new, and quite a surprise, and she 
replied, 

" Truly, my dear sir, I was not aware that I did 
such a thing ; and if I do make gestures, I am 
never conscious of it. I only .know that in this 
work I am very anxious to lead souls to the 
Savior. Whatever I do, I try to do it heartily, 
for the Master's sake. I never received any les- 
sons from a teacher, practiced before a mirror, or 
heard the subject mentioned before." 

The Colonel was completely in mal entendre \ 
tacked about, and struck up a conversation on 
another subject. This entire family ever re- 
mained among her warmest friends. 

During the progress of the meeting a lady 
kneeled at the altar several evenings in succes- 
sion, and, to all appearance, in deep distress. 

" How is it, dear one, that you are not blest ?" 
asked Mrs. Van Cott, as she knelt beside her. 



174 -MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

"O I don't know," she answered, sobbing 
bitterly. 

" You are conscious that the fault is in yourself, 
are you not ?" 

" Yes," with a long-drawn sigh. 

"Well, now, answer me a few questions. Are 
you willing to be saved ?" 

" O yes." 

" Do you feel willing to pay the price for the 
sake of the love of Christ in your soul ? You 
know it requires you to sell all for Jesus. Are 
you willing to forsake sin, and, watching unto 
prayer, fight daily against your worst enemy — 
your own heart ?" 

" I am willing to do any thing, if I may only 
see Jesus and taste his love." 

"Are you willing to give up your property, 
if God requires it ?" — knowing that she was 
wealthy. 

"Yes, all." 

"Will you give your husband ?" 

"Yes." 

" Your children ?" 

"Yes." 

" Do you believe the Savior is able to save you ?" 

" Mercy, yes /" 

" Do you believe he is willing ? y 

" I know he is." 



REVIVAL INCIDENTS. 1 75 

" Can you not believe that he saves you now, 
through faith in his name and Word ?" 

" O dear me, it is so, so dark !" 

There was evidently something in the way, 
and, after a short pause and a prayer, Mrs. Van 
Cott resumed, 

" Tell me, darling, are you at peace with all 
your neighbors and friends ?" 

She stopped a moment, and did not weep or 
answer. It was a turning point, and the fact had 
been discovered. A text just suiting the case 
was applied : 

"If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there 
rememberest that thy brother hath aught against 
thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go 
thy way ; first be reconciled to thy brother, and 
then come and offer thy gift." 

" You may as well give it up. So long as bitter- 
ness is in your heart you can never enter the 
kingdom of glory." 

"Well," she exclaimed, "I did not give the in- 
sult, and would you have me go and ask pardon ?" 

" Yes, I would have you i do any thing/ rather 
than miss of heaven." 

"Well, I can 't do it ! I can not stoop so low ; 
she would laugh at me, and think me a fool." 

"Now, dear one, tell me, in brief, all about it, 
and see if I can 't help you. God bless you, child !" 



170 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

" Well, my sister-in-law, more than a year ago, 
insulted me, and I told her I would never speak 
to her again as long as I lived. If she should 
ever ask me to forgive her, why, now, of course, 
I 'd do it." 

" But, now, tell me, do you really feel in your 
soul that you want to be a Christian ?" 

Looking up, very much astonished, she an- 
swered, " What do you think I mean by coming 
to this altar and kneeling by the hour praying 
if I don't want religion ?" 

" Let me ask you one more question. Do you 
want religion in God's way?" 

" Yes, of course I do." 

"Amen ! then seek it thus : Arise, go to your 
home, and be reconciled to your sister-in-law; 
then come, and Christ will receive you." 

" Would you have me make myself so mean as 
to cringe to an enemy?" 

" I would have you i do any thing ' to get out 
of the pit of sin." 

" I can never do it," arising from the altar. 

" Listen a moment, then, to me. Do n't you 
ever come to this altar again while you live. It 
will be insulting God, and already your sin has 
insulted him long enough." 

" I mean to come until I am blessed." 

" You may come in this way until the day of 



RE VIVAL INCIDENTS. I "j 7 

judgment, and you never will be blessed. Christ 
can not, will not, come and take up his abode in 
a heart filled with hate. It is sin, and he and 
sin can not abide in the same heart. Now, never 
attempt to bow here again until reconciled to 
your sister-in-law and every body else." 

" I shall come to-morrow night." 

" If you attempt to come as you are now, as 
the Lord liveth, I will tell the entire congre- 
gation ; because some will look at you, as you 
continue to come night after night and are not 
blessed, and* will fear that theirs will be the same 
fate, and will not venture to come at all." 

" Would you do such a thing ?" sobbing again. 

" Yes, I would." 

As she left the altar she whispered, " Pray 
for me." 

All the way home she had a struggle with the 
adversary, who constantly suggested, " This is 
not required of you. The woman goes too far. 
God do n't ask of you to compromise your dig- 
nity and stoop to your hateful sister-in-law." 

" But I must have religion ; I must feel the 
love of God ; I must get to heaven." 

Reaching home, feeling most miserable in 
heart, she sat down by the fire, thinking deeply 
what to do. " That advice of the dear sister 
is certainly good, when she told me to ask 



178 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

forgiveness for all the past. And then I said 
I ' would do any thing/ Can I go upstairs and 
tell her I want to be folded to the Savior's 
breast, and can not unless reconciled, and ask 
her forgiveness ?" 

She arose and started for her room, and, being 
obliged to pass her sister-in-law's door, at first 
she felt, " I 'd rather die than bend to her." 
Then came the thought of peace, joy, Christ, 
and heaven. A light was burning. As she 
neared the door footsteps were heard, and she 
knew that it was as favorable a time as she would 
ever have. A tap at the door was promptly an- 
swered by "come," and before the tempter had 
time to reason with her she stood before her 
weeping sister-in-law. Only a breath passed, 
and she cried, 

" Eliza, I want to be a Christian, and sister 
Van Cott said that Jesus would not accept me 
while there was enmity in my heart. Can 't we 
be friends, so that I may feel the joy of pardon V 

Before the words were fairly uttered her sister 
answered, 

" O, how I wanted to go to that altar to-night ; 
but you were there, and I knew you hated me, 
and I hated you, and I did not dare to go. I 
was afraid God would kill me. Forgive you ? 
No, no ; 't is mine to ask your forgiveness." 



REVIVAL INCIDENTS, 179 

Together they kneeled in prayer, and before 
they slept that night the work of grace had com- 
menced in their hearts. As they bowed at the 
altar next evening the smile of God rested upon 
them, praises dwelt upon their lips, and joy filled 
their souls. The leader of the meeting had no 
further occasion for rebuke, but could join heartily 
in praises to God with both of the new converts. 

One day an invitation came for Mrs. Van Cott 
to visit an aged man who was very sick. He 
had never made a profession of religion, and 
desired very much to hear her speak. The 
neighbors, at his request, came and filled the 
house, and when she arrived he explained thus : 
" I have invited my neighbors to come and hear 
you preach, for I want to hear you, but I can not 
go to the church." 

These words were uttered with great difficulty, 
his bleeding lungs being $o very weak. The 
notice took her very much by surprise, but, has- 
tening to a quiet room, the great Giver was asked 
for a subject. None appeared more appropriate 
than the twenty-third Psalm, " The Lord is my 
Shepherd, I shall not want/' etc. 

At two, P. M., she stood where all could hear, 
and where he could both hear and see. All the 
time she was speaking his burning black eyes 
rested upon her, and when the last sentence was 



180 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

spoken he cried out, " Lord, be thou my Shep- 
herd, so that I may fear no evil." 

A few more words of comfort were spoken, 
and she left with a promise to return soon again, 
if possible. But, before the desired hour arrived, 
God had sent first the spirit of peace, then the 
angel of death. The message sent to her was 
as follows : 

" Tell Mrs. Van Cott it is my dying request 
that she should preach my funeral sermon. 
Do n't let any one else do it. O, if I could only 
see her and hear her voice once more ! But tell 
her that Jesus is with me through the valley, and 
that I will ' sing her welcome home/ " 

The morning after his death the request came, 
but, never having conducted a funeral service, 
she sent the message to the minister, saying she 
could not do such a thing. He replied, " Trust 
in God, and he will help you." 

The sad hour came, and the gathering at the 
house was large, so many kindred and friends 
desiring to show respect for the dead. She led 
the mourners one by one to the coffin, and there 
they promised faithfully to seek the Lord and 
meet the loved one in heaven. 

It was some three miles to the church, and 
they requested her driver to lead the long pro- 
cession of vehicles. The scenes through which 



REVIVAL INCIDENTS. l8l 

she had passed only two years before came up 
vividly in her mind, and the sympathy for the 
widow, and the thought of walking before the 
corpse in the aisle of the church, was too much 
for her, and on nearing the parsonage she flew 
in and begged the pastor to relieve her of this 
ordeal. 

As the services were about to open she glanced 
at the stricken widow, and her heart melted. 
The church, the casket, the mourners, all re- 
minded her so strongly of her own past trials that 
it was almost impossible to proceed. Thrice 
during the discourse she was choked with emo- 
tion, and had to stop speaking. 

Little could be said of the Christian life of the 
departed ; he was saved at the eleventh hour, and 
was as a brand plucked from the burning; but 
God was in the words of warning that day, and, 
though ministers often question the propriety of 
funeral sermons, and wonder that so little fruit is 
gathered from these efforts, yet nearly all of that 
large family kept their vows, and sought the 
Lord. 

Five weeks had now passed, and she thought 
duty called her home again to her business. Still 
the great revival flame burned brightly, and was 
the general theme of conversation. Groups of 
business men, here and there, discussed the 



1 82 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

interesting features of the meetings, and desired 
the efforts continued. 

A landlady of one of the hotels sent her an in- 
vitation to supper, but several of the good sisters 
declared that the place had a bad name, and that, 
on. the whole, she had better not go. Trusting 
in God for the result, she went, and as tea time 
drew near, the boarders, and a few others who had 
been invited, came into the sitting-room. The 
revival was, of course, the theme of conversation, 
and soon the interest in religious affairs waxed 
warm, and as the time of their little visit was 
necessarily short, a season of prayer was pro- 
posed. 

They all bowed before the Lord, when soon 
the spirit of earnest supplication rested upon 
her spirit for the man kneeling beside her. She 
passed around the room, and prayed for each one 
in turn, after which they arose and were seated. 
A kind of " speaking-meeting" followed, and each 
was asked concerning his purposes ; and, amid 
tears and deep emotion, those hardened men 
promised to seek the Savior. 

One old gentleman, who had been a horse- 
jockey, arose, after giving a promise to pray, and 
left the room. A fellow-comrade asked, 

"Why don't you stay in the room ?" 

" I do n't want to stay," he grunted out, " the 



REVIVAL INCIDENTS. 



183 



devilish woman will make you answer whether 
you want to or not." 

Several of these men had been open and 
avowed infidels, but nearly all were finally con- 
verted, and became earnest Christians. 





CHAPTER XI. 
GIVING UP BUSINESS— WHOLLY IN THE WORK. 

jEV. A. C. MOREHOUSE, and Rev. 
W. O. V. Brainard, then on the list of 
superannuated ministers, thought that, 
as God had so wonderfully blest Mrs. Van Cott in 
her Christian work, it was her duty to devote 
her whole time to the Church. It was an impor- 
tant step, and required close searching of heart, 
and the best of counsel. Many seasons of prayer 
were held in the parsonage, asking direction from 
on high, before a decision was reached. How to 
support herself and daughter rested heavily on 
her mind for a long time, but as repeated invita- 
tions were constantly coming in, she finally 
trusted the whole care and burden to Him who 
careth for us. 

About the first of June, 1868, she settled up her 
business in the city, and gave herself fully to the 
work of leading souls to Christ. 
184 



WHOLL Y IN THE WORK. 1 8 5 

On the evening of her arrival in New York she 
received, through the mail, the following testi- 
monials : 

" ®o ail rajom it JHaj &<mmit. 

" Whereas, the bearer, Mrs. Maggie N. Van Cott, of the 
Duane Methodist Episcopal Church, New York city, is 
about to leave this place, where, during the past six weeks, 
God has honored her labors in the evident conversion of 
some eighty souls, and the awakening of many others, who 
are seeking salvation, she evincing more than ordinary 
adaptedness to revival work, a self-sacrificing devotion to 
the cause of Christ, a deep and constant piety, the posses- 
sion of excellent natural abilities, a divine anointing from 
on high, and an abiding sense of obligation to prosecute 
the work of the Master; and 

" Whereas, a similar work, conducted by her for about 
the same length of time, resulted in the conversion of some 
seventy souls in an adjoining town, just previous to her 
labors here ; and 

" Whereas, the converts embrace men of mind, strong 
character and influence, giving promise on her part of wide 
usefulness ; and such conversions are clear and undoubted, 
showing that God is in the work ; and 

" Whereas, we are convinced that God has called her to 
the work of an evangelist in his Church; we, therefore, 
heartily, and prayerfully, recommend her to, and bespeak 
for her a cordial welcome, and the unhesitating and earnest 
co-operation of the Churches wherever she may choose to 
labor, believing that God will make her very useful in 
building up the Redeemer's Kingdom. 

"Done at Windham Center, Pratlsville district, New 
York Conference, this 25th day of May, 1868. 

Rev. A. C. Morehouse, Preacher in Charge. 
Rev. Wm. O. V. Brainard, Superari 1 d Preacher " 
l 5 



1 86 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

The following was addressed to the Church 
officials, with whom the under-shepherds labor : 

" We, the undersigned, as ministers of the Gospel, and 
members of Churches of different denominations, desire, 
if it meets with your approval, that the bearer, Mrs. Mag- 
gie N. Van Cott, a lady known to us as a true-hearted, 
zealous worker in the vineyard of our Lord, having labored 
very successfully with us for the past two months, be ap- 
pointed by you to continue her labors here, as we believe 
that there is yet a work that no one else can do ; and we 
believe that many more, through her instrumentality, will 
be added to the Church, of such as shall be saved. 

Rev. A. J. Wright, Methodist, South Durham, N. Y. 

S. B. Goff, Methodist, South Durham, Gree?ieco., N. Y. 

E. Newcomb, " < ; " " " " 

E. Beach, Presbyterian, " " " " " 

Rev. John Battersby, Methodist, Comellsville, N. Y. 

Rev. A. Coles, Baptist, East Durham, N. Y. 

Rev. S. Paddock, Baptist, East Durham, N. Y." 

The following testimonials were also given 
about the same time : 

"We, the undereigned, having, through the blessing of 
Almighty God, been brought from Nature's darkness into 
His marvelous light, through the instrumentality of a series 
of meetings held at the Hervey-Street Baptist Church, in 
Durham, Greene county, New York, under the entire super- 
vision of the bearer, Mrs. Maggie N. Van Cott, who was 
led into our midst by the providenee of God, where she has 
been laboring with much zeal and energy, night and day, 
for six weeks; and, whereas, God has given her as a seal 
to her ministry, sixty or seventy souls to rejoice in his love, 
besides many backsliders have been reclaimed, and the 
hearts of all rekindled: 



WHOLLY IN THE WORK. 1 87 

"Therefore, we hereby desire, if it meets with the appro- 
bation of the Board, that she be appointed as our spiritual 
guide in this part of our Father's moral vineyard, as there 
are eight or ten villages and churches of different denom- 
inations now anxiously awaiting her coming. 

"Will you grant the request made by us, her spiritual 
children, who rise up to call her blessed ? God grant you 
may, and he will bless you and us, for we believe that many 
more precious souls, now traveling the downward road to 
destruction, will be brought home in victorious triumph." 
Signed by Twenty-two Names. 

The next field of labors was at Cairo, Greene 
county, New York. The pastor of the Church 
was a man of learning and ability, but opposed to 
special revival efforts. However, as his flock de- 
sired, he concurred in sending for. Mrs. Van Cott — 
she not being aware of his views until several days 
had passed, when he took occasion to say, 

" I have no objection to any one breaking up 
the fallow ground ; then I can cultivate the finer 
graces." 

" So you would be willing," she answered, " to 
have the roses planted, that you might smell the 
perfume." 

This little episode occurred in the church, just 
at the close of one of the meetings. 

The first services were truly embarrassing — 
the Church cold, criticism rife, and no one ready 
to respond in the revival work. At the first in- 
vitation not one of the brethren came into the 



1 88 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

altar, and no one would lead in prayer. She 
cried, 

" Are there no praying men in this house ? If 
not, in the name of God, is there a praying 
woman ? If so, as we bow, let some sister pray." 

After a little waiting, a sweet voice was heard 
in the center of the house, full of earnestness and 
tender pleadings with God for an awakening in 
the Church. As soon as the dear one ceased 
Mrs. Van Cott broke out in fervent prayer, asking 
God, if the official board, class-leaders, superin- 
tendents, and Sabbath-school teachers, were un- 
converted people, to commence that moment 
moving upon their hearts. The next evening, 
when called to the altar, the precious ones were 
ready and willing to pray, or point souls to Jesus. 
The revival began almost immediately — the mem- 
bers taking hold of the promises of God nobly — 
and the altar was soon filled with penitents. The 
pastor still refused to take an active part in the 
meeting, but sat back in one corner with as much 
nonchalance as possible. When many sad and 
sorrowful ones were crying to God for clean hearts, 
and needing the comforting words of the Script- 
ure, Mrs. Van Cott called to him, 

" Brother, in the name of God, do help these 
mourners." 

" I was asleep," he replied, " till the brother in 



WHOLL Y IN THE WORK. 1 89 

the back of the house spoke, and I heartily con- 
cur in what he said. It is now past 10 o'clock, 
and it is not best to hold meetings so late. But 
I find revivalists are apt to be extremists ; and I 
feel I shall be obliged to ask our sister to close 
the meeting while I am here at half-past nine." 

"Amen, brother," she replied. "It shall be 
done, so far as the meetings in the church are con- 
cerned." 

But knowing the condition of many before her, 
some of whom were in an agony of soul, and felt 
they must find relief in Jesus that night, she 
called to the congregation, 

"After the benediction, all who desire may 
repair to the house of sister Dennison, just across 
the street, where we will continue the prayer- 
meeting a little longer." 

The house was crowded, and several of the 
mourners found that comfort of soul for which 
they prayed. The dominie pastor spent the " wee 
sma' hours " with his lady-love in the adjoining 
block. 

During the nine weeks of this effort one hun- 
dred and fifty souls professed faith in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Many pleasing incidents occurred 
during these meetings worthy of a permanent 
record. A large number of young ladies seemed 
deeply moved by the Divine Spirit, but refused to 



190 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

come out fully on the Lord's side. These Mrs. 
Van Cott invited to her house one afternoon, and, 
promptly at the hour, some twenty came. She 
sang, prayed, and talked with them till all were 
melted to tears ; then urged each one to tell what 
she thought of Jesus and salvation. They all 
promised to pray for a clean heart, and, when the 
meeting closed, it was pronounced a precious 
season. That night an unusual work of grace 
attended the efforts in the church, and many 
were converted. On the way to the prayer-meet- 
ing across the way one of the seekers asked, 

" Please, sister Van Cott, can 't you arrange so 
that the young men seeking Jesus can have a 
meeting alone with you ? Sister said they had a 
glorious time this afternoon." 

" Dear child, you are all at work during the 
day, and every evening is taken up, save Satur- 
day evening." 

"Well, won't you let us have a meeting, then, 
on Saturday evening ?" 

Several more joined in this request, and she, de- 
siring to do all the good possible, finally answered, 

" Yes, I will announce it to-morrow night." 

Accordingly, the next evening the announce- 
ment was made. The ladies were to meet on 
Wednesdays, in the afternoon, and the gentlemen 
on Saturday evenings. 



WHOLLY IN THE WORK. 191 

A good old lady came close to the altar at the 
close of the meeting, and, looking over her spec- 
tacles, asked, 

" Do n't you think I had better come to the 
meeting to-morrow night ?" 

Not understanding her inquiry, Mrs. Van Cott 
repeated the notice, 

" I will see all the ladies on Wednesdays, in 
the afternoon, at my home, and the gentlemen 
here in the church on Saturday evenings. But 
why do you ask ?" 

" Well, do n't you know you are a woman, and 
how will it sound for you to meet so many men ?" 

" I do n't care for sounds, but I do care for 
souls. No, dear one, many thanks, but as an- 
nounced, so I must do, and will leave the case 
with God. You pray for me, and if you choose 
you can look in at the windows. Good-night ; 
I must hasten to. the meeting now awaiting my 
coming." 

The next evening about forty young and mid- 
dle-aged men gathered in the church, and while 
she showed " the way of the transgressor is hard," 
but the way of salvation glorious, many broke 
down and began to cry for mercy. They crowded 
around the altar, and the Spirit of God touched 
them as with living fire, and many were made 
joyous through faith in Christ. Those present 



1 92 MRS. MA G GIE NE WTON VAN CO TT. 

pronounced this meeting the best of the series. 
As she passed through the door a gentleman said, 

" Sister Van Cott, I do n't know but you are a 
little selfish and mean !" 

" Pray tell me why," she answered. 

" Well, here stands a score of us old professors, 
literally dead as to spirituality. As you have had 
such a glorious time to-night, you might let us 
come next time, even if we come as seekers." 

She was not a little amused at this, and, look- 
ing around, saw a great company, and among the 
number the dear old lady, who had been looking 
through the windows, watching the proceedings 
within. 

The next day there were glowing accounts 
concerning the " men's meeting," and those who 
were present declared it was glorious. Many 
a young man who was hindered from seeking 
Christ because of some mischievous girl, could 
arise and break the bands of Satan at the Satur- 
day evening meetings, where none but men were 
in the audience. The next invitation was more 
general, and all the men "who desired to flee 
from the wrath to come and to be saved from 
their sins," and who were living within twenty 
miles of the church, were invited. The result 
was a large number sought the Savior and were 
made happy in his love. 




CHAPTER XII. 



NEW DIFFICULTIES. 




INE weeks of hard toil were passed 
at Cairo, New York. One person had 
styled the place the " devil's half-acre," 
but it soon changed into a little paradise of songs 
and praises. 

About this time a strong invitation was given 
for her to hold a grove-meeting near Cornells- 
ville, on the premises of Abijah Ransom. She 
accepted the invitation, and the news spread far 
and wide. Sabbath came, and a congregation 
estimated at two thousand people assembled. 
The best of order prevailed, and the meeting 
gave great satisfaction. During the following 
week Mr. Ransom called on her, desiring a 
grove-meeting to be held in the same place, 
" lasting one whole week." 

A question arose concerning her legal right 
to hold such meetings, and while the subject 

i93 



194 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

was under consideration a "legal gentleman" 
presented her the following documents : 

"£tat« of Ntfo fork: 

Revised Statutes, Part I, Chap. IV. 

" Sec. 9. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious 
profession and worship, without discrimination or prefer- 
ence, is forever to be allowed in this State to all mankind ; 
but the liberty of conscience so secured is not to be so 
construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or to justify 
practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this State. 

" Sec. 21. Every citizen may freely speak, write, and pub- 
lish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the 
abuse of that right ; and no law can be passed to restrain 
or abridge the liberty of such speech or of the press." 

In a short time the following was also received : 

" To the Presiding Elder and Ministers in Charge : 

"We, the undersigned, petitioners, residents of the town 
of Durham, Greene county, New York, respectfully pray 
that Mrs. Maggie N. Van Cott be permitted to hold grove- 
meetings on the farm of Abijah Ransom, in Durham, at 
any time she may deem proper. Your petitioners sincerely 
believe that she is a sincere Christian ; that she is doing a 
good work in the cause of Christ ; that she has been the 
instrument in the hopeful conversion of many souls who 
perhaps would never have been saved were it not for her 
ministrations in our midst. 

"Your petitioners would further say that they have been 
acquainted with Mr. Abijah Ransom for a number of years, 
who is the owner and occupant of the lands where the meet- 
ings are proposed to be held. We know him to be an hon- 
est, candid, upright, and reliable man, one who is friendly 
to the cause of religion, and particularly friendly to the 



NE W DIFFICUL TIES. 1 9 5 

Methodist Episcopal Church, and that he will use his best 
endeavors to have the meetings conducted in good order. 

"And your petitioners promise to lend their influence 
and power to have the meetings conducted in a right, 
proper, and orderly manner. 

" We further believe that these meetings will result in 
great good, and be the means of saving many souls." 

Signed by Thirty-two Members of the Method- 
ist Church and Nineteen Presbyterian Brethren. 

Looking over these documents and believing 
that God was in the work, she consented to hold 
the meetings, and accordingly word was circu- 
lated and notices published in the Catskill and 
Windham papers. 

The meetings were still progressing at the 
church, and during the opening exercises, one 
evening, the presiding elder of the district, Rev. 
T. Chadwick, was present and assisted. While 
Mrs. Van Cott was making the announcements 
for the meetings during the week, she also gave 
out " the grove-meeting, to commence one week 
from the following Monday." 

Scarcely had the words been spoken before the 
elder called her name ; looking around she saw 
that he was troubled, when he remarked : 

" Please recall that, because you can not con- 
trol a grove-meeting, and you can not have the 
help of any of the ministers, as they will all be at 
the camp-meeting, and we had rather you would 



1 96 MRS. MA G GIE NE WTON VAN CO TT. 

come there. And besides that, it will take some 
from the camp-meeting. ,, 

" O, no, that can not be," she replied ; " the two 
meetings, though to be held at the same time, are 
twenty-six miles apart, and a great many persons 
who can not attend the camp-meeting can be at 
the grove-meeting." 

"Well," said he, "none of the brethren can 
help you, and you can not stand it ; you had bet- 
ter recall the announcement, and you shall help 
at a grove-meeting after the camp-meeting is 
over, and brother Morehouse will arrange for it 
and help you." 

She stood in the presence of the "commander- 
in-chief of the district," and then, "she was a 
woman" and it was becoming for her "to obey!' 

In deep sorrow she recalled the notice, and felt 
that if any souls were lost on the account of neg- 
lect of duty, in this case, blood would not be 
found on her hands. 

During the following week she was beset on 
every hand, mostly by the impenitent, who cried 
out against the step taken by the elder. 

The owner of the land, Mr. Ransom, came, 
and with him several gentlemen as witnesses, and 
offered her one hundred dollars an hour for every 
hour she would speak on the ground during the 
week. And he desired she should "preach" 



NEW DIFFICULTIES, . 1 97 

three times a day ; and as her usual time of speak- 
ing was about an hour and a quarter, she might 
have netted over $2,800, by holding meetings 
eight days. The wealthy gentleman offered to 
secure the amount to her then and there, by writ- 
ten engagement, properly attested. But no, the 
notice had been recalled, and the elder was as- 
sured that the meeting would not be held during 
that week. 

The blow was a heavy one, for financially she 
was seriously embarrassed. The business in 
New York had been neglected, drugs held on 
hand had declined in value, and several hundred 
dollars would not pay off her . present debts. 
But, believing that God would provide, she toiled 
on faithfully in hope. 

She was invited to attend a Sunday-school an- 
niversary at Leeds, and the crowd being great, 
the meeting was held out-of-doors, and her pulpit 
a large wagon box. The day being very hot, she 
suffered unusual fatigue, and yet the best results 
were seen from that one effort. As she was 
descending from the wagon, assisted by the pas- 
tor, he said, 

" Will you come to Leeds and help us ?" 
She thought a moment and said, " I will." 
" At that time," he remarked, " I will pay you 
for this hour of pleasure and great profit to us. 



I98 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN, COTT. 

You truly have a great tact with children, as well 
as older people, in keeping their attention." 

She returned to the evening appointment, some 
eight miles away, and closed the week's labors 
full of joyful remembrances of the past. 

The next Sabbath she went to Leeds, accord- 
ing to promise, commenced the work with hearty 
zeal, speaking, holding prayer-meetings, and vis- 
iting from house to house. At the expiration of 
six weeks' efficient labors, among a class of peo- 
ple possessing abundance of this world's goods, 
they made her the magnificent present of the 
sum of forty dollars and ten cents. During this 
time her daughter's board had to be paid, and 
when this bill was settled, there remained of her 
six weeks' earnings, ten cents. 

This was not the first time she had been desti- 
tute of means, since commencing this work for 
the Master. 

On one occasion, during a visit to New York, 
she paid all she could on the pressing demands, 
reserving about enough to reach her next appoint- 
ment. At the hour of starting her daughter re- 
membered the arrearages due the washerwoman, 
a poor, hard-working, faithful soul, who was very 
needy. She was paid, and the mother and daugh- 
ter took a steam-boat for the nearest port of their 
destination. The fare and supper tickets would 



NEW DIFFICULTIES. 1 99 

amount to more money than she expected, but 
they proceeded, and " went and told Jesus." 

Morning came; they could not take breakfast 
at the hotel, and pay for the livery horse and 
buggy, engaged to take them to the place of 
meeting. They had twenty-five cents left, and 
with a cheerful, ringing voice she said, " Come, 
daughter, let us get some crackers and cheese to 
eat on the road." Twenty-six weary miles lay 
before them, and they had scarcely started before 
a pelting rain and hail storm set in. The child 
was carefully protected, and the mother drove on, 
holding the umbrella and singing merrily to keep 
her courage up. By and by they began to feel 
hungry, and the rain not ceasing, she said: "I 
think, darling, we will take some breakfast now ;" 
and on reaching for the package, behold the 
crackers had been left at the hotel, and they had 
nothing but a piece of cheese. This they feared 
to eat on empty stomachs. 

It was a severe disappointment and caused the 
mother's heart deep sorrow. The child was hun- 
gry, they were penniless, in the cold rain, away 
from friends, depending alone upon the God of 
the widow and fatherless. But she must rally 
from the sinking sickness already falling upon 
soul and body ; when she cried : 

" Now that is a jolly joke, do n't you think so? 



200 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

but never mind, when we get on the top of the 
mountain, I know the proprietor of the hotel, and 
he will give us some dinner and feed the horse. 
I know he will be glad to see us, for he was con- 
verted in one of the meetings." 

"I don't care, mamma," she replied, "if you 
don't ; I think it is a good joke." 

They plodded on wearily, the horse flounder- 
ing in the horrid mud, which was growing worse 
and worse every hour. They sung and chatted, 
but the mother felt she must sink under the ter- 
rible load crushing her just then. Memories of 
other days came up ; and of means expended, 
here and there in folly, and the adversary goaded 
her troubled mind with, " Do n't you wish you 
had it now?" To which she answered, " The 
money spent in folly, yes ; but that given to the 
poor and needy, no ! 

" ' The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.' " 

She was called from her reverie by her child : 
" Mamma, do you know what you were singing ?" 
" No, darling ; I did not kuozv I was singing, 

I was thinking, and I guess I have a text to 

speak from to-night." 

" I am glad of it, so you will be a little more 

sociable. I do wish you would tell me about the 

1 Mountain House ;' you promised you would." 



NEW DIFFICULTIES. 201 

She appeared joyful for a few moments, but the 
sorrow of heart would not go away at one mere 
bidding. The devil again suggested : 

" Now, in taking up this work you have brought 
your child, your only child, to want and poverty. 
Do as you may, the fact is now before you." 

At this she turned her longing heart heaven- 
ward, and a consoling thought, sweet as the mes- 
sage of an angel, came to her relief: "The earth 
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." 

It was enough, a chord of sweet praises was 
struck, and the cloud-mantled hills echoed to the 
strains of sacred song. 

While rejoicing thus, a strong voice called, 
"How do you do? You can't go any further. 
I guess God sent you to us to-day. It was so 
stormy and chilly we could not work out-doors, 
and I told wife I 'd just kill that last turkey, and 
we 'd have a nice time alone. I reckon God put 
it in my heart for your sake." 

This welcome was scarcely over before she 
said, " O, no ! I must hasten on. I speak at the 
Center to-night. Are you all well ? Does the 
love of Christ dwell richly in your soul ?" 

" Yes, thank God ! But you can 't go a step 

further till after dinner, anyhow ;" and taking the 

horse by the bridle, led him up to the gate and 

helped them out. 

16 



202 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

On the way to the house the daughter sug- 
gested, " Mamma, please, for my sake, do n't tell 
that we have had no breakfast. I should almost 
die with shame." 

The greetings were most cordial, and in that 
cozy sitting-room they talked of victories, trials, 
temptations, and new-born souls happy in the love 
of Christ. 

Soon after, dinner was announced ; the well- 
spread board brought back the memories of other 
days when she, too, gathered her company around 
her own table, before death had scattered them. 

Scarcely was the blessing over before she broke 
completely down, and then, to the glory of God, 
told her story of the bitterness of the hours just 
passed. 

Before starting they kneeled in prayer, and the 
Master was very precious in the words suggested : 

" They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any 
more. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of 
the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them 
unto living fountains of water : and God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes." 

They then left their warm-hearted friends, 
drove on their way rejoicing, reached the Center, 
and received another cordial welcome from the 
friends expecting their arrival. 

From Leeds she visited Prattsville. This she 



NE W DIEFICUL TIES. 203 

found to be a hard place, During two weeks of 
faithful efforts, but a very few seemed willing to 
seek Jesus. She concluded to close the meetings, 
and so announced for the next evening. But to 
the surprise of all, the work broke out, and scores 
bowed at the altar of prayer. 

The meetings ran for seven weeks day and 
night, and the power of God was present to save. 

A very singular incident occurred here. A 
rich old gentleman living in the neighborhood, 
possessing many acres of picturesque scenery, 
had one great rocky gorge converted into a 
sort of picture-gallery. The profiles of favorite 
dogs, horses, cattle, sheep, and even members 
of his own family, living and dead, were chis- 
eled by artists on the rocks. The good deeds 
of himself were recorded there in abundance, for 
future ages to admire, or laugh at his folly. One 
day, while dining at his mansion, he addressed her 
thus : 

" I want to write your name on the rocks." 

" My dear sir," she answered, " some people 
would undoubtedly think that a great honor, but 
while it would be very kind on your part, still I 
prefer to have my name engraved on something 
more enduring than rocks." 

With surprise he asked, " I 'd like to know 
where you '11 find it." 



204 M RS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

" I will tell you, sin I want my name written 
on the palm of my Redeemer's hand ; then, when 
rocks and mountains have fled away, and all 
things earthly have melted with fervent heat, 
then, bless God, my name will be forever there ! 
Sir, is your name written there now ?" 

" O, yes, I guess so. You see I have been 
preaching to this people for forty years." 

" Indeed, pray tell me how ?" 

" Well, only the other day, while I stood on the 
hotel steps, I told some twenty of the boys who 
were playing in the street, that every one who 
could repeat the Lord's Prayer without a mistake, 
should have a dollar. And, madam, how many 
do you suppose could do it out of the twenty ?" 

" Probably about ten," she answered. 

" Ha, ha ; no, only one. But they all went at 
it in good earnest, and soon learned to repeat it 
word for word." 

" Well, sir, do you prepare your sermons with 
prayer, and follow them by your example ?" 

" As to that, I suppose you would not think my 
example just right, but still I 've got along these 
seventy-eight years." 

" Will your religion serve you in the dying 
hour ?" 

" Die ! / do n't expect to die !" he answered 
with emphasis. 



NE W DIFFICUL TIES, 205 

" Indeed ! I thought we were taught in the 
Word of God, that ' death had passed upon all 
men, for that all have sinned/ If this be true, I 
tell you, sir, you must die." 

" But I expect to live till I 'm a hundred." 

" And what then ?" 

" Well, according to your say, I must die." 

" And what then?" 

He looked confused and annoyed, while she 
continued, 

"Then the judgment. And what then? To 
the workers of iniquity, that fearful word, - depart/ 
O, sir, how can you endure eternal burning ? Pre- 
pare to meet thy God." 

Troubled in heart he replied, " You 're a devilish 
good woman. You '11 go all right." 

" And you, sir ?" — 

" Well, I do n't know, but you pray for me, 
may be you '11 get me through somehow." 

The rich man was a helpless beggar, as to 
heavenly endowments, with no hope in the world 
to come. 

There was joy and sadness in parting with the 
dear people at Prattsville — joy, that so many had 
found the Savior, and sadness for those who still 
refused the offers of mercy and pardon. 

A goodly number accompanied her to Wind- 
ham Center, to attend a donation visit given to 



206 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

Rev. A. C. Morehouse. The house was full of 
cheerful company, and proved a financial success. 
During the evening the good pastor asked, 

" Did you receive a paper from Elder Chad- 
wick ?" 

She replied, " I did not." 

" Did he give you a letter to me ?" 

" No, sir." 

" O, well, here is a paper that will do for the 
present, and I will send you another in a day or 
two." 

Placing it in her pocket, she thought no more 
of the little missive till next morning, when, on 
opening the envelope, she found the following : 

" 3Sxfiorttr'£ iLinnst. 

"This may certify that Mrs. Maggie N. Van Cott, the 
bearer, having been duly recommended by the class of 
which she is a member, is hereby authorized to hold meet- 
ings for prayer and exhortation in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church on Windham circuit. 

"A. C. Morehouse, Pas/or. 
"Windham Center, N. Y. Con/., September 6, 1868." 

This ecclesiastical formula, though gotten up 
without her knowledge, was not delivered to her 
for over four months. Glancing at the date, a 
smile passed over her face as she wondered at 
the long delay. She had already been hold- 
ing meetings for eleven months on this district, 



NEW DIFFICULTIES. 207 

and had held " meetings for prayer and exhorta- 
tion," in connection with the sixth ward mission 
in New York city, for nearly two years. And at 
these she had spoken hundreds of times from 
texts of Scriptures, as the Spirit of God had 
directed. 

A previous engagement now called her to Stone 
Ridge, Ulster county, New York, by invitation of 
Rev. Charles Palmer, who received her cordially, 
and his wife made her happy in their splendid 
home. She asked what he desired her to do, and 
how he wanted the meetings conducted ? To 
which he replied, 

"I want you to do just what God directs by 
his Spirit, and conduct the meetings in your own 
way, as you may think best. I have a desire to 
see souls saved, and have done all I could, and 
the dear Lord has given us a glorious victory. Do 
what you can, and I trust we shall have another 
shout." 

The Sabbath was bright and glorious ; the 
throng came, and filled the church. Before clos- 
ing her discourse, pressed by the Eternal Spirit, 
she cried, 

" We shall have a glorious revival, and two 
hundred souls will be converted on this charge in 
the name of Christ." 

After the services, as they were shaking hands 



208 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

and getting acquainted, one of the stewards 
said, 

"Sister, while I am real glad to see you, I am 
sorry you said what you did about the two hun- 
dred souls, because it can not be done. We have 
had a revival this Conference year ; and it was a 
glorious work, praise God ! and I tell you, if 
brother Palmer can not win them, no one else 
need try. Yet I am glad you are here." 

She asked, " Are there no sinners in the place?" 

" O yes," he replied, " plenty of them ; but they 
are so hard I have no faith they can be reached 
now." 

" Well, brother, go home and pray God to give 
you faith in that direction, and he will help us." 

The first week passed, and the good minister 
was taken from her side and laid upon a bed of 
sickness. This caused some anxiety ; but she 
pressed forward two weeks longer, and only 
twenty-five souls had sought the Savior. The 
prediction of the good brother reached her ears 
again, but the Spirit whispered, " As the Lord 
liveth he will give you to see the two hundred 
souls converted." On returning home she asked 
the afflicted pastor, 

" How long can I have the use of your church ?" 

He smiled, and replied, "As long as you choose 
to hold meetings. But, sister, you look so pale 



NE W DIFFICUL TIES. 209 

and weary, I fear you will kill yourself. Do n't 
work so hard." 

Another Sabbath passed ; but the hard and 
flinty hearts were not yet melted, and she felt her 
strength of body giving way under the continued 
mental anguish. On the following Monday morn- 
ing, after family prayers, she remarked, 

" Sister Palmer, I am going in the parlor to 
settle this Church matter with the dear Master. 
Please do not allow any one to come near me. 
If I do not come out in time for dinner do not 
call me. If I am not with you in time for the 
afternoon meeting you may "call in the friends. 
I shall, in the name of God, this ■ day, have vic- 
tory or death." 

It was a bitter cold day in February, and no 
fire had been kindled in that room all Winter, 
and the frost was thick on the window-panes. 
She wrapped a large shawl around her and bowed 
before God, and presented the promises covered 
with the blood of the Savior, and in them there 
could be.no failure. "Ask and ye shall receive," 
stood before her as in characters of living fire. 
Also, " If ye abide in me, and my words abide 
in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be 
done unto you;" "And whatsoever ye shall ask in 
my name, that will I do, that the Father may be 
glorified in the Son ;" " If ye shall ask any thing 



2IO MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

in my name, I will do it." It was the same 
voice that awoke slumbering chaos, and new-made 
worlds teemed with life glorious and grand. An 
hour passed — another followed — she had grap- 
pled in with God's Word, and, in the anguish of 
her spirit, as she afterward declared, she could, 
in a certain degree, understand the Scripture, 
where it describes the Master's agony in the gar- 
den, when he sweat great drops of blood. In 
those hours of the most intense struggle of spirit, 
the great drops of sweat rolled from her brow. 
The tempter suggested, " Give it up ; God will 
not give the answer to-day." " Then to-day, on 
this spot, I die," was her answer. The agony in- 
creased — the prayer became a struggle as for life. 
" I will not let thee go. Thy Word is truth. _ 
Thou hast said, ' Now is the time.' O God, now 
send the answer; now 9 my Father, hear me, for 
the sake of souls — for the two hundred. Christ 
has paid the price- of their redemption. I plead 
his merits— I will not yield — I will not move — I 
will not let go my hold — thou canst not turn me 
away. Behold, thine own dear Son pleads — the 
Spirit intercedes. Give, O give the answer." 
That moment she saw, as it were from heaven, 
a hand lowered, resplendent in beauty, and, as 
she reached to touch it, there dropped a great 
shower of unnumbered packages toward the earth. 



NE W DIFFICUL TIES. 2 1 1 

A sweet zephyr of peace floated over her soul, 
and soon shouts of rapture flooded her spirit. 
She arose, left the room, and found the family 
awaiting her coming for dinner. 

Brother Palmer said, " Sister, where have you 
been ?" 

" Glory to God ! I have been in ' the secret 
place of the Most High/ " she replied. 

" I should think you had, for your face shines." 

" Not half so brightly as my soul shines, bless 
the Lord! And as he liveth, two hundred souls 
are converted. The answer has been given — I 
feel, and know it." 

During the afternoon meeting a dear sister 
spoke, saying, 

" During the noon prayer-time to-day, I think 
I never had such views of God's willingness to 
save. And I have faith, sister Van Cott, that we 
shall see a great work." 

"Where two or three agree as touching any 
one thing, it shall be done." Faith was in lively 
exercise in at least two hearts ; and this could re- 
move mountains of sin. 

That night God honored the Word spoken ; 
and when the invitations were given, twenty-five 
persons bowed at the altar of prayer. The 
Church was aroused at the sight, and, though 
heretofore weak in faith, it now came up nobly to 



212 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

the work. In less than five weeks from that time 
two hundred and thirty-five souls professed faith 
in Christ. One hundred and fifty-four united 
with the society here, and others found homes 
elsewhere. 

In due time the converts were received into 
full membership, and enjoyed all the rights and 
privileges of the Church of their choice. 




CHAPTER XIII. 
THE GOOD WORK SPREADING. 

GREAT many incidents of thrilling in- 
terest happened while these meetings 
were in progress. 
One evening the sick pastor sent word for Mrs. 
Van Cott to come home earlier, and take more 
rest, as he knew the severe work was telling un- 
favorably on her health. Her average hours for 
sleep were scarcely more than four ; and the ad- 
vice from the man of God was good. But the 
young converts held midnight meetings ; their 
companions were seeking the Lord, and their 
songs and prayers could be heard till nearly 



" Please, sister, do go and sit in the room, and 
we will lead the meeting," were words she could 
not hear unheeded. In front of the church, across 
the street, at a private house, these meetings were 
held long after the exercises in the church had 
closed. Entering the capacious parlor, she found 



2 1 4 MRS. MA G GIE NE WTON VAN CO TT. 

about sixty persons gathered, and soon others 
came, till the room was completely filled. She 
had scarcely been seated when an old man, tot- 
tering with age, came in, and in a moment she 
insisted upon his taking her comfortable chair. 
The devotions started immediately, and penitents 
were weeping in different parts of the room. 
One was standing by the door, his face bathed in 
tears, and near by him another, for whom his 
mother had long been praying. To the one 
standing by the door she said, " Do you desire 
to seek Jesus ?" 

With a distressing wail, he answered, " Yes, 
ma'am." 

" Come with me, then, where we all can kneel 
around and pray for you." 

To the audience she said, " Here is one who 
desires salvation ; let us all look to God for him." 

The company bowed, and prayed fervently. 
The penitent wept, pleaded, groaned, and uttered 
the most dismal howls, until thev were almost 
unbearable. He tossed about, to and fro, like a 
wild man, keeping up his terrible noise, fully 
twenty minutes. 

Something must be done for him, was the pres- 
ent conviction of her mind, for if he was in 
earnest his agony was fearful ; if he was not sin- 
cere, it was time some words of instruction were 



THE GOOD WORK SPREAD1XG. 2T$ 

given, that the melting power of the Holy Spirit 
might touch him. A moment of silent prayer, 
and with strong faith she said, " Now, Lord, re- 
lieve this captive of sin and Satan." 

Suddenly he sprang to his feet, crying in a loud 
voice, " Seek, O seek God at once ! Do n't put it 
off; you will perish! Do come! Glory be to 
God, he has saved me ! I '11 tell it while I live, 
and shout it when I die ! I am saved ; yes, sing 
it, shout it ! I 'm glad salvation 's free !" 

It was now past midnight, and Mrs. Van Cott 
thought it best to close the meeting ; but before 
doing so, she asked, " Is there not another soul 
that would have me pray for the blessing of God 
to come upon it ?" 

Just before her a young lady screamed out, 
" What shall / do to be saved ?" 

" Seek Jesus," answered the new-born soul ; 
" O, yes, seek him ; he will be found of you !" 

She fell into Mrs. Van Cott's arms, and contin- 
ued her screams, intermingled with sighs of deep 
anguish. The exhaustion of overwork brought 
on dizziness and fainting, and Mrs. Van Cott 
needed assistance for a few moments. The dear 
young lady was converted in less than half an 
hour, and joy and gladness filled the believers' 
hearts. The meeting closed about one o'clock, 
and the still, cold, frosty air echoed the praises 



2l6 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

of God as the happy throng scattered to their 
several homes. 

The next evening, in church, the young man 
would wave his handkerchief every few moments, 
during the sermon, and shout " Glory to God I" 
As soon as the prayer-meeting commenced she 
stepped to his side, and whispered, " My child, 
do n't you know your wild enthusiasm will bring 
upon you reproach and scorn ?" 

"Who cares what the world and Satan may 
say of me ; I am saved 1" he shouted, until every 
eye was turned toward him. His face shone 
with the glory which God was pouring into his 
heart. As soon as an opportunity was given to 
speak, he sprang to his feet, stood in the aisle, 
waved his handkerchief, and declared that he had 
started in the way of life eternal, and would, by 
the help of God, be a true soldier of the Cross. 

"And now," he continued, "watch me. To- 
morrow night there will be a meeting at my 
fathers house, and I intend to have meetings 
there every week; and if you want to be con- 
verted come down. I intend, God helping me, to 
see souls converted there." 

Eight months afterward, when Mrs. Van Cott 
visited that house, she learned that meetings had 
been held each week, and God had honored the 
effort with the presence of the Holy Spirit. 



THE GOOD WORK SPREADING. 2\J 

Many of the converts, knowing that their beset- 
ting sin had heretofore been the wine-cup, re- 
quested her to give them a lecture on Tem- 
perance. 

This was a new field of labor ; but, as she had 
seen the evils of rum in many of its ruined vic- 
tims, after a little thought, she consented to make 
the effort. The division of the Sons of Temper- 
ance urged her to join their number, and try to 
induce others to unite with them. She did as 
requested, and twenty-eight more followed the 
good example. 

On the day of invitation she took dinner some 
three miles from the parsonage in one direction, 
addressed a Sunday-school picnic, some four miles 
from the parsonage, in another direction, then 
held the usual meeting in the evening at the 
church, after which the initiatory exercises took 
place. As it was only a quarter after ten o'clock, 
according to announcement, she delivered a tem- 
perance address at Yah Crepplebush, only four 
miles in another direction, reaching home in time 
to retire at two o'clock ; arose early, and rode 
twelve miles before ten, in the morning, singing, 

" What a favored lot is mine !" 

The next field of labor was Madalin, Duchess 
county, N. Y. Here the revival continued four 

17 



2l8 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

weeks, and at the close of the meetings the pro- 
bationers were received into the Church. 

It was a grand sight, and worthy an artist's 
best effort to secure such a picture. On the ex- 
treme right, near the wall, stood a colored man, 
and on the extreme left his wife, while at the 
altar kneeled their daughter, seeking to know the 
Savior's love. About the center of the group 
were two gentlemen, twin brothers, about forty- 
three years of age, and near them another 
brother, some two years their senior. They had 
forsaken the paths of sin, and entered the " high- 
way of holiness," and at this hour were united 
with the visible Church militant. 

While at Stone Ridge, Ulster county, N. Y., 
the presiding elder called, and took dinner at the 
parsonage, in order to have a conversation with 
Mrs. Van Cott ; and, though the visit produced 
some embarrassment, yet she found him a Chris- 
tian gentleman, and enjoyed his visit. After he 
was gone, brother Palmer inquired, 

" Sister, I think you have a license to preach ?" 
She answered, "Yes, would you like to see it?" 
He smiled and said, " Yes, forour Annual Con- 
ference will soon be held, and our fourth quar- 
terly conference is near at hand, and at this we 
would like to renew your credentials." 

She hastened to her room and brought the 



THE GOOD WORK SPREADING, 219 

license given by Rev. A. C. Morehouse. As soon 
as he saw the paper, he asked, 
" Is this all you have?" 
She replied, " Yes, sir, all I need." 
" Why, no, this does not allow you to take a 
text and preach from it." 

'•Don't it? Well, God allows it. I received 
my commission from him, brother, and have 
used texts years before I ever saw brother More- 
house, and God has honored the work in the sal- 
vation of hundreds of souls. I think what God 
owns and blesses, man has no right to condemn. " 
In a few days she was called before the quar- 
terly conference, to be examined according to the 
rules of the Discipline ; and though perfectly igno- 
rant of the questions about to be asked, she found 
no difficulty in answering them. They run as 
follows : 

" Do you know God as a sin-pardoning God ?" 
" Have you the love of God abiding in you ?" 
" Do you desire nothing but God ?" 
" Are you striving to be holy in all manner of 
conversation ?" 

From her, the elder then turned to the mem- 
bers of the official board and propounded to them 
the second series of questions. 

" Has she gifts (as well as grace) for the work?" 
" Has she (in some tolerable degree) a clear, 



220 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

sound understanding, a right judgment in the 
things of God, a just conception of salvation by 
faith ? And has God given her any degree of ut- 
terance ? Does she speak justly, readily, clearly ?" 

" Is there any spiritual fruit ?" 

" Are any truly convinced of sin, and converted 
to_God by her preaching ?" 

" As long as these three marks concur in any 
one, he (or she) is called of God to preach. These 
we receive as sufficient proof that he (or she) is 
moved by the Holy Ghost." (See Methodist Dis- 
cipline, p. 63.) 

Turning again to her, the elder asked, 

" Sister Van Cott, what do you deem to be the 
unpardonable sin ?" 

To this she replied as best she could, and 
then, though knowing it to be a little out of 
order, asked, " Will you please give me your views 
on the subject ?" 

" Well, I think you are as near right as you can 
be on that question." 

After a few moments the lady candidate was 
dismissed, and in about an hour the elder entered 
the parsonage and handed her the following : 

u To all whom it may concent : 

"This certifies that sister Maggie N. Van Cott, having 
been examined by us, concerning her gifts, graces, and 



THE GOOD WORK SPREADING. 221 

usefulness, we judge that she is a suitable person to be 
licensed as a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and we accordingly authorize her to preach the 
Gospel, subject to the requirements of the Discipline of 
said Church. 

" Signed by order of the quarterly conference of Stone 
Ridge, in the Ellensville district, this sixth day of March, 
1869. A. H. Furguson, Presiding Elder" 

Folding the paper she asked, " Will this make 
me more efficient in winning souls for Christ ?" 

" I can not say that it will/' he replied. 

"Well, then, sir, I value it but very little/* 

" It will save you from many unpleasant re- 
marks." 

" So far as that is concerned, I care not for the 
remarks of the world ; yet I thank you, brother, 
for your kindness in thus protecting me. But, 
please, sir, lay your hands on my head and 
ask God, in earnest prayer, to make me more 
useful." 

The hands were laid upon her head, and the 
blessing asked. 

While on this charge she closed her first year 
of regular work as an itinerant evangelist, not 
counting the, twenty-one months of toil at the 
Five Points. Being now regularly licensed as a 
local preacheress, we may hereafter, with official 
sanction, call her discourses sermons. 



222 MA'S. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

The work done the past year may be summed 
up as follows : 

Sermons preached, averaging an hour long, . 335 
Class-meetings attended, . . . . 91 

Prayer-meetings attended, .... 69 

Probationers united with the M. E. Church, . . 500 

Miles of travel, 3, 000 

Total moneys received for the year's work, $735 35 

Out of this pittance she paid her child's board 
and their traveling expenses ; but for clothes, she 
had to draw from borrowed resources. For the 
work which was so precious and full of comfort, 
she was willing to undergo some financial loss. 

The next call was to Patterson, New Jersey, 
and on the way she stopped at Kingston, N. J., 
for a visit at Mr. Samuel Dimmick's. The after- 
noon was spent pleasantly, and as they sat down 
to supper, Mr. D. exclaimed, " It is published 
through town that the Rev. Mrs. Maggie N. Van 
Cott will preach in the First Methodist Episcopal 
Church, Kingston, this evening." 

This created a laugh, and the subject was 
dropped. Supper over, some one made the same 
remark, but only to create a laugh. While seated 
in the parlor, the hall bell rang, and being an- 
swered, a voice was heard asking, 

"Is Mrs. Van Cott in town ?" 

" Yes," replied Mrs. Dimmick. 

" Is she going to preach to-night ?" 



THE GOOD WORK SPREADING. 223 

" Not that she is aware of." 

" Why, it is all around town, and already the 
people are going to the church." 

" It is a mistake, Mrs. Van Cott knows nothing 
of it." 

Scarcely had the door closed, and the lady 
again seated, before summoned again to answer 
nearly the same questions. Just then the church- 
bell rang out its great clear tones of welcome, 
and the lady-caller exclaimed, " Do n't you hear 
that ?" 

Mrs. Van Cott, not knowing what might hap- 
pen, began to ask God for a preparation for any 
emergency, when presently an elderly gentleman 
entered and said, 

" Sister, a great mistake has taken place in ref- 
erence to a meeting to-night, but there are now 
five hundred people in the church. Won't you 
come and speak to them ? I do hope and pray 
you will." 

" I prefer to rest to-night, as I am here on a 
visit, and do not desire to hold meetings." 

However, after a little reflection she concluded 
to go, but was surprised in not finding the pastor 
present, and was fearful he had been offended 
by some of the unlooked-for movements, which 
proved, in the end, too true. Yet it was not kind 
in him to blame her, as she was not at fault in the 



224 MA'S. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

matter. The explanation was about thus: Mr. 
Dimmick, on going to his store in the morning, 
had remarked to one of the church stewards, 
" Sister Van Cott is at my house, and if you want 
her to preach, now is your time." 

Immediately the sexton was informed that the 
church would be needed that evening, when the 
zealous brother hastened to the parsonage and 
asked the parson if he could have the use of the 
church for sister Van Cott. 

" I do n't care/' was the reply, " but I can not 
be present until late, as I have to help initiate 
some in our order to-night." 

When they met some two days afterward, the 
pastor showed a very unpleasant state of mind, 
and his wife used insulting language toward Mrs. 
Van Cott, which was wholly uncalled for. 

The Cross-Street Methodist Episcopal Church, 
Patterson, N. J., was the next field of labor. The 
meetings were held one month, and during that 
time ninety-three persons bowed at the altar of 
prayer ; but when the time arrived for them to be 
received into the Church, only twenty-five would 
unite. Political strife among the members had 
made havoc with the flock. Many sad incidents 
revealed this during the meetings. If the Demo- 
cratic brethren took the lead in prayer one night, 
the Republicans remained silent during that en- 



THE GOOD WORK SPREADING. 225 

tire evening. And so, on the other hand, if the 
Republicans came first. 

One night in passing down the aisle she asked 
a young man to give his heart to Jesus. 

" I really want to," was the reply. 

" Do it then/' she continued. 

"Would you have me go to that altar," he 
asked, "and have that lying hypocrite pray for 
me ?" 

" What have you to do with his sins ? look to 
yourself, dear child." 

" Yes ; but, then, such men hurt the cause you 
are trying to spread." 

" Not necessarily ; God can and will maintain 
his own cause, and has commanded men to look 
to Him who died upon the cross. Will you go ?" 

" No, not to-night." 

She shuddered at the thought, how many have 
been lost through those dreadful words, " Not to- 
night !" 

The last week of her stay in that city, two 
gentlemen called and asked if she would deliver 
an oration the coming Fourth of July. To this 
she replied, 

" I know nothing about orations, having never 
heard one, and I dare not undertake it." They 
explained more fully, 

" We have a nice little church at our place, 



226 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

but we are five hundred dollars in debt, and we 
are now getting up a festival, and expect to have 
fire-works in the evening, and learning that you 
were in town, we called to try and get you. We 
hear that you receive one hundred dollars per 
night, but we can not pay that much ; still we will 
do the best we possibly can if you will come." 

" It is a great mistake about the money ; I do 
not receive any such sum, nor any stipulated 
price whatever. My only trouble is, ^1 am not 
competent to deliver an oration, or I would con- 
sent to help you." 

" Well, only say you will come, and you may 
speak on any subject you choose." 

The good pastor of the church protested, for 
Sabbath next being the Fourth of July, their 
church would be crowded, and Monday, the day 
of celebration, she ought to rest ; besides, she 
was threatened with typhoid fever, and was not 
really able to do so much heavy work. Finally 
she consented to go and help them in lifting 
the church debt. As the men arose to go they 
declared they had all the fij'e-works now, they 
needed. 

Monday morning, July 5th, at five o'clock, the 
carriage called and she was soon on the way to 
the " little church " some fifteen miles distant. 

By way of preparation she had borrowed three 



THE GOOD WORK SPREADING. 227 

orations from the minister, and shortly after 
arriving at the place, and in a quiet room, began 
to read them over. The first one read was too 
deep. The second was to high-toned for her, 
but the third was just to her liking. Its rich 
thoughts and brilliant illustrations were all she 
could desire. But imagine the surprise on her 
finding a pencil-note on one corner, stating that 
this had been delivered near the same place and 
to that very people the year before. But a few 
minutes more remained before the exercises would 
commence, and this she spent in prayer. 

Arriving at the church, she requested a na- 
tional anthem to be sung, and while the singers 
were doing their best, a few thoughts were col- 
lected for the occasion. Prayer over, the pastor 
of the church arose and announced that "The 
Rev. Mrs. Maggie N. Van Cott will now deliver 
the oration." 

The notice caused a smile on her part, but 
fearing the effect, she suppressed it quickly, and 
commenced by asking the privilege of holding an 
old-fashioned Methodist meeting that evening. 
This was received with hearty " aniens" and fear- 
ing the oration would be too much of the sermon 
order, she turned to the pastor and asked him to 
call her back if she wandered too far from what 
was expected on a Fourth of July occasion. This 



228 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

caused a little laughter in the audience, but for 
the life of her she could not tell which way her 
thoughts would run, as she had no plan whatever 
arranged. Presently she thought of General 
Washington's campaign, and how he routed the 
" Red Coats " on that very plain and near that 
spot, and how great was the victory of the Revo- 
lutionary struggle. An hour passed quickly ; the 
audience was filled with emotion, shouting or 
weeping, and as she bowed and retired from the 
altar platform, she was followed by a shower of 
applause. 

In the evening, as might be expected, the 
church was crowded to its full capacity, and she 
spoke on her favorite theme of Faith. Five per- 
sons came forward and bowed at the altar as 
seekers of peace and pardon through Christ. 

Nothing would do now, but she must stay, or 
come back and hold a series of meetings, though 
expecting to rest during the hot months of July 
and August. In a few days she returned, and 
spent nearly two months with that earnest, intel- 
ligent people, and God gave them eighty souls 
who professed to have found the Savior. 

Rev. W. H. Dickinson had four places for 
preaching, and at each one the fire of God's love 
burned brightly. One evening, in the church, 
while the meeting was progressing there was a 



THE GOOD WORK SPREADING. 22<) 

panic. Some one on the outside cried, "The 
building is falling." The congregation was 
moved, and a general scramble for the door en- 
sued. But no one was severely hurt, and the 
panic soon ended. 

Among the attentive hearers were two well- 
dressed ladies, evidently from the city of New 
York. At first they seemed to scorn the mes- 
sage of truth ; then tried to turn the appeals into 
ridicule, but after a few days they became more 
thoughtful and at times would weep freely. Pass- 
ing their pew, Mrs. Van Cott asked the one next 
to her, gently, 

" Do you love Jesus ?" 

" No, no," was the answer ; but she continued, 
" tell me, can, and will God hear the prayer of, 
and save an actress !" 

" He will save all who come unto him, with 
broken and contrite hearts," replied Mrs. Van 
Cott ; " come and seek the Lord now." 

Both ladies arose at once, went forward and 
kneeled at the altar, and soon were pleading the 
merits of Christ. In about an hour both were 
happy in the Lord of Hosts. 

They gave up their occupation on the stage, 
and when last heard from were steadfast in the 
faith. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



IN NEV/ ENGLAND. 




]0R some time Rev. E. W. Virgin, of 
Chicopee Falls, Mass., had been writing 

fMI and urging Mrs. Van Cott to hold meet- 
ings on his charge. She had many doubts about 
her suiting the staid New England people, but 
after a few days of thought and earnest prayer 
the way seemed to open. 

Arriving at Springfield, Mass., September 24, 
1869, she was met by the pastor and accompa- 
nied to Chicopee Falls. The work soon broke 
out, and exceeded the most sanguine expecta- 
tions. For two weeks the Lord was present 
to save, and many mourners found the joys of 
salvation. 

An invitation came from Rev. J. N. Mars, of 
Boston, a colored minister of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, begging for a few days' services, 
if no more. She went, presented the claims of 
God upon them, and was gloriously successful. 

230 



IN NE W ENGLAND. 2 3 I 

Calls now pressed in from all directions, trying 
to secure her services for months in advance. 

In December she commenced work with Rev. 
J. O. Knowles, Chelsea, Mass. For six weeks 
the battle against sin was waged, the meetings 
held almost constantly, save a little while in the 
forenoon, and at the end of that time one Jmn- 
dred and seve7ity-five had found peace in Jesus. 

She left them for a short time to fill an 
engagement at Springfield, but, as the work 
was deepening at the former place, she soon 
returned and spent a month more with the ear- 
nest workers. But calls loud and long now came 
from the church at Springfield .for her to hasten 
back again. The good pastor was ill, and the 
official members had decided to send him to 
Florida for his health. Conference was coming 
on, and was to be held in that church. She 
could not leave Chelsea for a few weeks, but 
consented to take charge of the Springfield 
church as soon as her engagements were closed 
at Chelsea. 

In the latter place there were some notable 
cases of wickedness, and she united with a few 
of strong faith in asking God to convert the 
wickedest man in the city. One night, in pass- 
ing through the audience, she noticed a most 
hardened-looking young man, and asked him to 



232 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

seek the Lord. She was met by a cold frown 
and a negative answer. He was then invited to 
attend a meeting at the parsonage next day. It 
stormed badly, but he came, listened attentively, 
but would not yield to be saved. Night after 
night he resisted the Spirit of God, but when a 
few words dropped concerning the prayers of a 
sainted mother in behalf of wayward sons his 
heart was melted and tears flowed freely, but 
he could not be induced to come forward for 
prayers. 

The next evening a fearful snow-storm pre- 
vailed ; the drifts were very deep, and the pastor 
discouraged Mrs. Van Cott from going to church. 
However, his precious wife accompanied her, and 
they two were the only ladies present. About 
sixty gentlemen composed the audience, and 
among them the young man, cast down and full 
of sorrow. Brother Knowles pressed the case to 
him personally, and he finally yielded, and was 
soon blessed. His confession was thus : 

" I came to this place a week ago to hear what 
the woman could say. I heard on the street that 
the lady could hold the attention of the people, 
and I came here out of curiosity. The first 
night I was pleased, the next interested, the 
next wounded. I believe there has been no 
wickeder man in the city than I have been. 



IN NEW ENGLAND. 233 

Only last week, while at the billiard-table, I 
thought I was cheated, and drew a pistol, and 
would have shot my offender, but was prevented. 
I have gambled — indeed, been guilty of all sins 
save murder — but now, by the help of God, I 
will strive to be a better man." 

A gentleman who had long been tainted with 
Universalism was brought to see his danger and 
need of salvation through Christ. While listen- 
ing to a discourse from the words, " One thing 
thou lackest," he saw plainly that no man comes 
to God save through his only begotten Son, our 
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and, weeping, 
asked to be shown, the way. At the altar he 
soon found his faith taking hold on the prom- 
ises of Christ, and was sweetly and savingly 
converted. 

Another had listened to her preaching, but 
had gone away not caring for any of the Gospel 
messages which he had heard. The next even- 
ing, with the throng, he pressed his way again 
into the church. The Spirit of truth reached 
his heart, and, with tears and groans, he sought 
the Friend of sinners. In after days, with the 
members of the Mt. Bellingham praying band, 
he went from place to place, showing forth the 
kindness of God in saving his guilty soul. His 
loud shouts of joy were long remembered, and 



234 MRS - MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

his strong voice was heard in the grand harmony 
as they sang, 

"Jesus paid it all, all the debt I owe." 

While laboring here Mrs. Van Cott received 
the following letters, which have been read 
several times in public, and always with good 
results : 

" Dear Sister, — ' Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all 
that is within me praise his holy name.' 

"Thanks be to God, I have solved the problem concern- 
ing the redemption of my soul, or rather the problem has 
solved me. You recollect that when I last saw you, at the 
Elizabeth-Street Mission, and in my subsequent letters, 
my mind, and every thought, was enveloped in a thick and 
impenetrable darkness, in regard to the how, the why, and 
the wherefore of my soul's salvation. 

" I was severely stricken by the chastening of God, 
in removing from my incompetent care my two darling, 
idolized babes, and for a long time my heart was filled with 
bitter complainings at God's injustice, as I then thought. 
Many of my friends afforded me their earnest sympathy, 
and kindly strove to console me ; still all was in vain. My 
wounded and lacerated feelings would not be healed ; my 
agonizing heart would not be comforted, until I began grad- 
ually to look at myself, and found serious misgivings of the 
future, with a horrid retrospect of the past, and an utter 
loathing of the present. This could not last long. I was 
led by my dear wife to attend church, and through associa- 
tion with God's people, I thought I saw a faint glimmer of 
hope. Then Satan began his fiendish work in my heart, 
till I was completely filled with doubts, suspicions, and 
skepticism concerning every thing pertaining to Christ's 
religion. 



IN NE W ENGLAND. 2$$ 

"When the good people proclaimed their faith in Jesus, 
their renunciation of the evils of this world, their abiding 
trust in God's mercy and goodness, their conscious peace 
and satisfied happiness in God's love, the devilish spirit 
within me whispered 'humbug;' it is only theory, practi- 
cally they are deceived ; they have, by constant study of 
this religion, become insane on this subject, perfect mono- 
maniacs. But, thanks be to our loving Father, I have dis- 
covered that there is a wonderful 'method in this madness. ' 
Still the Holy Spirit did not entirely desert me, but kept 
gently saying, ' Co we.' 

" Then, by some sudden transition, I began to think there 
was something real in it, after all; but with that thought 
came the reflection, ' This is not for me.' Still there was the 
heavenly invitation, ' Come /' ' What ! /, with all the stain 
of years ?' 'Yes, come, just as you are, and though your 
sins were as scarlet, they shall be whiter than snow.' 

" Then I commenced to investigate the matter, to probe 
the subject to the core, earnestly and honestly; but all was 
dim, vague, and undefinable. But ever, from amidst the 
mysterious veil that surrounded me, I heard the heavenly 
music, ' Come P My brain was racked, my heart swelled 
almost to bursting, the flood-gates of my grief were dashed 
aside, and my agony welled forth in scalding tears ; but all 
was in vain. I said, ' Have I not foresworn the world ? 
Have I not resolved to live honestly and squarely before 
God and man? Do I not seek the society of Christians, 
and punctually attend the services of the Church ?' Still I 
could not understand it, till on the very verge of despair, 
when, like a stray beam of sunshine stealing through a 
crevice of the worldly and skeptical wall with which I had 
inclosed myself, came the thought, keen and piercing, 
' Fool ! what do you seek ? Wouldst thou venture to peer 
into infinity?' I was stunned in realizing that I, a poor, 
weak, puny mortal, was trying to fathom God. Then, for the 
first time, I honestly exclaimed, ' God be merciful to me, a 



236 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

sinner, and the least worthy among the unworthy !' Then 
I truthfully cried, 'Just as I am, without one plea;' and, 
worn out and helpless, I let all go, and with trembling 
spiritual hands, but hoping heart, I clung frantically to the 
cross. 'In thine own good time, O Lord,' I prayed, and 
on Sunday, February 28th, God mercifully lifted the cloud 
from over me, and bathed my soul in the warm, gushing 
sunlight of his love. Praise the Lord, O my soul ! My 
heart now goes out to all, filled with honest love, and tender 
solicitude for their spiritual welfare. 

" I could talk to you on this blessed religion forever, but 
I fear I am now encroaching upon your time. 

" Ever yours, in Christ, Wm. Henry Jones." 

A few weeks later he wrote : 

"We have had a terrible storm in the city (New York.) 
But this morning all is still; calmness and quietude reign, 
and the warm, genial sunshine is flooding my desk, and all 
around. I have dilated thus, because it impressed me so 
forcibly with what I was, and am now. This fierce con- 
test of the elements, their final suppression, and this lovely 
morning as a denouement, are so similar to my experience ; 
for with me all the elements of my nature seemed to be 
madly, fiercely contending for the supremacy. It seemed 
as if all my passions were coursing through my mind like 
a mighty whirlwind, seeking to tear down and annihilate 
every vestige of conscience within me. In vain I strove 
against the storm of these convictions ; in vain I exclaimed, 
i I am as good as he !' 'What have I done ?' Again and 
again I interposed my strength, but only to be beaten back, 
and thrown aside as a feather in the grasp of a tornado, 
until, in despair, I fell, and lay exhausted, with the pitiless 
storm beating upon and all about me. Then, when all was 
black darkness, when all seemed lost, when I was pros- 
trated with the weakness of a little child, and felt that / 



IN NE W ENGLAND. 237 

could do no 7nore, just then the sweet, soft voice of Hope 
whispered in my ear, ' Look up P Hoping against hope, I 
raised my eyes, and before my gaze, with a countenance 
radiant with mercy, and in tones overflowing with love, 
stood Jesus, praise his name ! bidding me come. And in 
a paroxysm of hope I cried, i I yield ! I come !' My 
wasted form was filled with new strength ; and now, on this 
beautiful morning, I feel strong in the Lord, and with grat- 
itude and gladness, I exclaim, Glory to God ! Halleluiah ! 
" I thank God that he is making you so useful in his 
vineyard, for your reward will be great ; your heavenly 
crown will dazzle with his jewels. I pray I may be an in- 
strument, if ever so humble, of doing something to glorify 
God before I die. 

"Your brother in Christ, Wm. Henry Jones." 

Ten weeks of severe labor were spent here, at 
Chelsea, but the Lord was present in mighty sav- 
ing power, and four hundred yielded to be saved 
by grace, through faith in Christ. 

A strong invitation had been before her, for 
some time, from the pastor, Rev. Franklin Fur- 
ber, of Wilbraham, Mass. She trembled on 
being told that the students in the Academy 
would, doubtless, ridicule her efforts ; but, in the 
strength of the Lord, she went forward. 

She received a hearty welcome, and a ready co- 
operation from the students. The first night 
twelve seekers for pardon came forward, and at 
the close of the prayer-meeting she asked, "Who 
will join in pleading with God to double this 



238 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

number to-morrow night ? All who will, please 
rise up." 

A great number arose, and bound themselves 
to pray during half of the noon hour, for the con- 
version of souls. The next evening twenty-eight 
persons presented themselves at the altar, hum- 
bly seeking the Savior. 

The test of faith was so gloriously successful 
that joy filled all of the hearts of the earnest 
workers. 

Not fearing the result, she asked again, " Shall 
we have this number doubled to-morrow night ?" 
And those who would pray and work for this 
end, and the conversion of souls, were again 
asked to manifest the same by rising. Fully half 
of the audience stood up, and thus showed a de- 
sire to watch, work, and pray. Seventy-three 
weeping penitents were at or near the altar, the 
next evening ; and such a time Wilbraham had 
never seen before. Shout after shout went up 
from the happy souls, as one by one were set free 
from the bonds of sin, through faith in Christ. 
The ministers — several of ihem doctors of divin- 
ity — took hold of the good work with true Chris- 
tian zeal, and spoke the praises of Him who was 
present to save. 

Again, with the overwhelming joy of the pres- 
ent, she asked, " Shall we have this number 



IN NEW ENGLAND, 239 

doubled to-morrow night ?" Faith staggered — yet 
about fifty persons arose, and covenanted to pray 
earnestly for the desired end. The next evening 
mourners were found all over the house — some 
seeking pardon, others to regain lost joys — and a 
great many praying for that holiness of heart 
" without which no man shall see the Lord." By 
actual count there were one hundred and seventy 
souls bowed as seekers of pardon, peace, or holi- 
ness. 

Dr. Edward Cooke, the Principal of the Acad- 
emy, gave the students a part of the next day for 
religious services ; and it was a high day at Wil- 
braham — one nevei* to be forgotten. 

One of the professors was a professed Univer- 
salist, and would not attend the meetings, and 
expressed a decided disapproval of the lady's pro- 
ceedings. Without saying a word to him on the 
subject, several of his students united in earnest 
prayer in his behalf. One night, on returning 
from the meeting, they heard his voice as they 
passed his room, saying, 

" Boys, come in ; I want to speak with you." 

On entering, he told them that God, by his 
Spirit, had entered his room and his heart ; and 
now, by faith in Christ Jesus the Lord, he was 
fully saved from sin. He appointed a meeting in 
his own room, and the presence of Christ was 



24O MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

there. He suffered none to enter or leave his 
room without speaking, or leading in prayer. 
Those were happy hours, for both teacher and 
pupils were " looking unto Jesus." 

A few months afterward came a letter telling 
of the happy and triumphant death of William F. 
Newell, a student, aged about seventeen years. 
When told that he must die, he exclaimed, 

"It is all right, if it be Christ's will. I 
am ready. Bury me with Mrs. Van Cott's pict- 
ure in my right-hand, for she pointed me to 
Christ." 

He sweetly slept in Jesus. 

Amid many tears and sorrows, she left Wilbra- 
ham and returned to Springfield, where she had 
entire charge of Trinity Church, in the absence 
of the pastor. The meetings were full of deep 
interest, and especially those held in 'the after- 
noons. While passing down the aisle one even- 
ing she saw one who seemed to take no part in 
the meetings. Addressing him, she asked, 

"Brother, what are you doing here? Why 
do n't you go to work for the Master?" 

" O, well, you have help enough," he replied. 

"What is that to thee; go and work for your 
soul's sake, or you will not get your 'penny bless- 

fog.'" 

" That 's so ; but I guess I won't to-night." 



IN NE W ENGLAND. 24 1 

" Brother, you want a deeper work of grace," 
she continued. 

" I know it." 

"Why do n't you seek it, then, while it may be 
found ?" 

" I am trying to." 

"Why don't you go to the altar, where the 
seekers are ?" 

After a moment's hesitation, he gathered all 
his energies, and made an emphatic, " Not to- 
night." 

The next evening he was among the first ones 
to kneel at the altar, and remained there till the 
close of the meeting. Addressing the leader he 
said, 

" I can not get into liberty." 

"Why, what hinders?" replied Mrs. Van Cott. 

" I feel that this tobacco-box is in 'the way." 

"Is that all? If so, just give it to me, that 
you may not have so mean a thing to stumble 
over. I will send it as a present to your dear, 
pious mother." 

He handed her the box, with its filthy contents, 
and entered zealously into the work of his soul's 
full salvation. His conversion was clear and 
strong; and, being one of the leading business 
men of Springfield, the good work had a glorious 
effect. 



242 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

The following appeared in one of the issues of 
The Springfield "Union:" 

THE TRINITY CHURCH REVIVAL. 

THE EXPERIENCE OF A MAN WHO LOST HIS STRENGTH. 

De Forest B. Dodge, a student at the Hartford Theo- 
logical Seminary, came to this city one evening last week 
to hear Mrs. Van Cott preach, and, while taking part in the 
exercises, lost his strength, and was for some time as a 
dead man, except that he breathed. His experience was 
similar to what others have felt, but what was more com- 
mon in the early clays of the Methodist Church than of 
late. The gentleman is preparing for the ministry in the 
Congregational Church. He is not a man of excitable 
temperament, and those who were at the meeting call it 
nothing but the power of God. He gives the following 
account of his feelings : 

"Some days before I attended the Springfield meeting I 
, had heard of the deep religious interest existing there, and 
listened to the Christian experiences of Mrs. Van Cott, re- 
lated to me by a brother. I felt a strong desire to hear 
her, and attend one of the meetings. Last Tuesday even- 
ing I decided to go, and reached the church about five 
minutes of eight. When I entered she was engaged in 
prayer. My friends and self were conducted to a front seat. 
The room was very full. In the portion of the prayer 
which I heard, I immediately marked three things: a sweet 
affection toward God, implicit confidence in him, and vital 
union with him. It seemed to me that this dear sister re- 
alized she was talking face to face with her listening 
Savior, who stood ready to give her ' what things soever 
she desired.' She then opened the Bible and read for a 
text Job xxiii, 3, ' O that I knew where I might find Him !' 
All I will say of the sermon is that before it was through, 



IN NE W ENGLAND. 243 

the question was settled in my mind that the Holy Ghost 
did call and qualify some women to proclaim the salvation 
of our Lord Jesus. After the sermon, she invited those 
Christians who desired more of the ' fullness of God,' to 
come forward to the altar for a season of prayer. (Just pre- 
vious to this, and immediately after the sermon, opportu- 
nity was given to those who loved him to testify for Jesus. 
Some seventy-five spoke; I also said a few words.) After 
this season of prayer the brethren and sisters returned to 
their seats, and sister Van Cott formally dismissed the 
meeting, requesting all who could to stay for another sea- 
son of prayer. She then addressed some pungent remarks 
to the unconverted, who were * halting between two opin- 
ions.' At the close of these she gave out an invitation for 
all who wished to become followers of Jesus, all who were 
hungering and thirsting for righteousness, and those Chris- 
tians who were in a spiritual frame of mind, to come for- 
ward for a season of prayer. 

" The altar was filled — more than a hundred, in all. I 
should think. A moment before this, and in fact at this 
moment, I resolved to have nothing to do with the matter — 
neither to kneel or pray. But just here, sister Van Cott, 
who was now at the remote end of the rail, motioned with 
her hand for me to go into the altar. An impression came 
upon me that I ought to go. I instantly stepped over to 
the end, and a brother taking me by the hand, drew me ir. 
Then we all kneeled, and sister Van Cott coming out where 
I was, asked two brethren to lead in prayer, and requested 
me to follow. The moment these brothers ceased, a sister 
began ; when she ceased, another brother. The instant he 
ceased, a brother behind me commenced. When this 
brother was about half through his prayer, an indescribable 
sense of the gloriousness of God came powerfully before 
my mind. The view was so distinct and clear that my 
emotions instantly rose very strongly. I felt impelled to 
break forth at the top of my voice in praise to God. But 



244 MKS - MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

I restrained myself with the thought that, as I was to pray 
in a moment, I might praise God just as much as 1 liked, 
then, without interrupting any body. When the brother 
ceased, this same view of God's goodness, glory, and bless- 
edness continuing, and having deepened, I found it impos- 
sible to begin to pray otherwise than by shouting, ' Glory 
to God !' ' Blessed be thy name, O our glorious God,' 
and such like expressions. This bright view continued 
some two or three minutes, when instantly the loveliness 
and blessedness of God passed from my mind ; and a clear 
and powerful view of the spiritual condition of those sin- 
ners then kneeling at the altar came before me. Then re- 
covering breath I broke out in earnest prayer for them that 
God would show them the sin of slighting Christ's love, 
and so reveal Christ to them just then, as to induce them 
to put forth immediate and saving faith. 

" I recollect that just at this time a strong assurance ran 
through me that God had answered my prayer, and of ex- 
claiming, ' Lord, we believe that thou hast saved them.' 
This assurance growing stronger, I repeated the same 
words louder than before. Just at this instant the assur- 
ance amounted to a perfect certainty ; and as, like a flash 
of lightning, I realized the value of an immortal soul, and 
the absolute certainty that those seeking ones for whom I 
Was praying were saved, I broke out involuntarily at the tip- 
top of my voice, ' Lord, we know that thou hast saved 
them.' Up to this moment I had been troubled with 
huskiness in my throat, but now I felt something warm in 
it, the choked sensation suddenly gave way, and I have 
since been told my voice from this moment more resembled 
a blast from a trumpet than any thing human. All I am 
Conscious about it is that my voice was very loud, and I 
experienced great relief at the giving-way in my throat. I 
believe I repeated the sentence, 'Lord, we know that thou 
hast saved them,' twice ; the second time louder, if possi- 
ble, than the first. 



IN NEW ENGLAND. 245 

u I remember now, for an instant, a total blank in my 
mind, when there rushed through my soul a clear discern- 
ment of the spiritual condition of those Christians kneel- 
ing at the altar, who were earnestly desiring more close 
union with God. I remember seeing the condition of their 
souls pictured almost as clearly before my spiritual eyes as 
I ever saw a landscape in the meridian sun. I remember 
praying for the descent of the Spirit upon them, but can 
not recollect the language used, until I came to this sen- 
tence, ' Lord, increase our love to sinners, to Christians, 
and to thee.' These words just escaped my lips, when 
the loveliness of Christ began to dawn upon my mind with 
inexpressible sweetness and mighty power. I felt the 
world suddenly receding, and myself carried into the ocean 
of God's infinite love. I have a recollection of saying to 
Christ, ' Lord, we do love thee.' Then I lost all con- 
sciousness of this world, and, I am told, I fell back on the 
floor perfectly silent, motionless, and rigid, for some quar- 
ter of an hour, during which, it is said, my countenance 
shone with a sort of phosphoric light. 

" While lying there it seemed to me I was out of the body 
and out of the world. I felt myself right in the immediate 
presence of Christ. God and Christ blended in one. I 
realized, with the most vivid clearness, the infinite loveli- 
ness, goodness, worthiness, sweetness, and glory of Christ. 
My soul was ravished with the view and filled with in- 
tensest love. I realized Christ was a spirit, and that I was 
viewing him spiritually. At the same time there seemed 
to be a mysterious, a mystic veil, which prevented my soul 
from gazing directly upon the blessed Jesus. O how my 
soul fluttered, and panted, and struggled to break through 
tkis screen, which seemed so very thin and so easy to be 
pierced ! Blessed be God ! I have the glorious assurance 
that the time is near when that veil shall be rent, this gaz- 
ing at Christ through a glass darkly shall be forever done, 
ajid I ' shall see his face.' Glory be to God i 



246 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

"Toward the last part of the time I was lying there, my 
soul filled with a mighty and sweet assurance of my own 
salvation. Nothing doubtful now. No more faint ' hopes/ 
trembling beliefs, hesitating trusts, that I was saved. All 
is now glorious certainty. It is a positive knowledge that 
I am accepted of God. O, how this bursts upon me ! 
'T was like the glare of the noonday sun. My friends tell 
me I here shouted awfully loud such sentences as these : 
< My own clear Savior, I am thine !' ' I know I am thine !' 
'I know I shall dwell with thee forever!' 'I know I shall 
sing the song of Moses and the Lamb!' 'O my glorious 
Redeemer !' ' Thou art mine !' 

" After some twenty minutes this view of Christ partially 
passed away and I opened my eyes. I remember, as I 
looked around, a strange, confused feeling came over me 
for a moment, and I asked, 'Where am I?' and 'How 
came I here ?' A dear brother replied, ' The Lord put you 
here.' Thus it flashed back into my soul that I had been 
passing through a most blissful experience of a revelation 
of Christ by the Holy Spirit. I was helped upon my feet 
and walked around, shaking hands with those dear broth- 
ers and sisters, until some one began a hymn which the 
Holy Spirit powerfully applied to my soul. I could not 
contain myself, but began to shout at the extreme power 
of my lungs, during which I sank again on the floor, and 
for some twenty minutes more enjoyed the same sweet 
revelations of the blessed Jesus which I had passed. I 
then walked about shaking hands with the Christians a 
few minutes, when there came over me an overwhelming 
desire to pray. The great desire now of my heart was 
that I might be made mighty to win souls. And standing 
there before the rail, I remember I yielded myself to 
this overpowering influence, and prayed until I could not 
make a sound, and sank exhausted into the arms of some 
brothers around. 

"There are some things in that prayer which I distinctly 



IN NE W ENGLA ND. 247 

remember. I realized I was talking face to face with God, 
and the manifestation of his presence was so strong that 
it seemed my soul would leave the body. I had a distinct 
knowledge that that invisible, mysterious power which was 
pouring the truth like lightning into my mind, was the 
1 Holy Spirit.' This knowledge was so distinct, so 
definite, and powerfully impressed, that I could not refrain 
giving utterance, as loudly as possible, to this sentence, * O 
God, thou knowest thine Holy Spirit is now making inter- 
cession in my soul.' And as I said these words I felt as 
if I was breaking away from this ^ody and going into God. 
My desires were of the intensest degree. The sensibility 
is so correlated with the intellect, that the intellect deter- 
mines and governs the action of the emotional nature. 
The objects for which I prayed came so clearly into my 
mind that my emotions necessarily rose to a tremendous 
pitch, so much so that all through this prayer I felt my soul 
was being rent or bursting. I also realized a distinct 
assurance in the prayer that every thing was granted me 
for which 1 prayed. O, bless the Lord, my soul, and all 
within me bless his holy name ! The assurance was just 
as powerful as the desire. 

" The present effects of tins experience may also be noted. 
This world seems to me a new world. The old heaven 
and the old earth seem passed away. All nature seems a 
friend to me. The sun looks down affectionately, and the 
shining of the moon seems so sweetly gentle and tender. 
I love all nature. The trees and stones call emotions from 
my heart. They are my Father's. They are the handi- 
work of my Savior. The fear of man is perfectly annihi- 
lated. My heart has been accustomed to tremble and 
flutter under some circumstances. There is nothing of 
that now. All is serene, peace, pure, perfect. My soul is 
filled with love toward all men. My love for the Bible is 
powerfully increased, and my understanding of it much 
more clear than it was. My experience in prayer is now 



248 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

entirely changed; in prayer I now find Jesus, and realize 
that I am talking with him. Spiritual things affect me 
now with new power. 

" This experience was from God. Every Christian can 
see this at once. It did not come from the devil. i By 
their fruits ye shall know them.' It was not merely a 
frenzy of animal excitement. The meeting that evening 
was very calm and unemotional. My disposition of mind 
is naturally sedate, quiet, void of deep, excited feeling, not 
easily aroused. In fact, I have found my nature so slow lo 
be aroused, that I have suffered some in mind, whether I 
should be able to present truth with sufficient feeling and 
power. The first thing I was conscious of in the experi- 
ence was that truth was being powerfully presented to my 
mind. Clear views of truth came before or into my intel- 
lect. This truth was of the most spiritual nature. It was 
the character of Christ and God united in one. The 
divinity of Christ (I never doubted it) was distinctly re- 
vealed to me that night. I saw God in Christ. I saw 
the character of God revealed through Christ. Christ is 
divine. Behold this, ye Unitarians and Spiritualists ! 
6 Behold this, and wonder and perish.' Jesus Christ is 
the 'true God.' 'No man cometh to the Father but 
by him.'" 

While here a precious young man was con- 
verted, who, during the Summer, proved conclu- 
sively the necessity of being always ready for 
that change awaiting all mankind. While the 
revival was in progress at Greenfield, Mass., 
Clarence Smith called on one of the young lady 
converts, and asked, 

" Carrie, would you like to visit and spend the 
Sabbath with sister Van Cott ?" 



IN NEW ENGLAND. 249 

With love in her heart for her spiritual mother, 
she exclaimed, with joy, " Indeed, I would !" 

" Be ready, then, on Saturday, at two, P. M. 
I will be here, and we will go. Be sure and be 
ready, as it is a long drive, and we shall need 
all of our time in order to reach the place for 
evening meeting. Won't she be surprised to 
see us ?" 

" Indeed, she will." 

" Now, do n't fail, Carrie," and, turning away, 
said, " I am so happy in my soul to-day !" 

Being obliged to cross a river in a small boat, 
by some means it was upset, and, in less than 
twenty minutes from the time he parted with 
Carrie, Clarence Smith was drowned. But his 
last words and the record of a short Christian 
life said " for him to die was gain." 

At Windsor Locks a new and inviting field 
was offered and gladly accepted. Among the 
converts were fifty children y who were taken in 
charge by a lady, herself lately converted to God. 
Each Saturday they met in their class-room, and 
their earnest prayers and sweet, touching testi- 
monies were full of child-like faith in Jesus. 

In May, by the earnest request of the pastor, 
she visited Shelburne Falls, and toiled eight 
weeks without much fruit. Very few of the 
Church members had been accustomed to take 

J 9 



250 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

part in the public meeting, only some three or 
four, unless called upon. 

" I guess we shall have to get down to the 
roots, ,, said the pastor. 

" O, no, brother, we must get under the roots," 
was Mrs. Van Cott's reply. 

The Church had been too much under the 
influence of the world, and the outside pressure 
had kept it crushed down. Learning these facts, 
she declared that she would not leave the place 
until the Church was able to stand alone, strong 
in the Lord of hosts. The work soon started 
forward. Several men of ripe years bowed for 
the first time before the throne of grace, were 
soundly converted, and became pillars in the 
Church. 

One Sabbath, while many strangers were pres- 
ent in the church, one middle-aged man was asked, 

" Do you love Jesus ?■" 

" I can not say that I do," was the gentlemanly 
answer. 

" Do n't you think you ought to love him," she 
continued, " knowing what great things he has 
done for you ?" 

" I suppose it is right." 

" No, you don't 'suppose? you know it is right, 
and your bounden duty. Come to Jesus just 
now." 



IN NE W ENGLAND, 2 5 I 

" No, I can not ; you pray for me." 

" Will you kneel here with me ?" 

To this he again replied, " I can not," and the 
tears began to flow freely. His heart was sorely 
troubled. 

She kneeled in the aisle and prayed earnestly 
for him, while he groaned in spirit. 

Moses Darling was an earnest seeker after 
eternal life, and in a few days Christ took full 
possession of his heart. His testimony ran thus: 

" I have been called by my companions the 
bully euchre player of Greenfield ; but now, God 
helping me, I mean to be known as an earnest 
Christian and a worker for Jesus. " 

One evening, with a heart full of Christian 
zeal, he went to one of his companions and 
asked him to come to Jesus. The man replied, 

" You had better wait until you get religion 
enough to have a clean month before you talk 
of the pure blood of Jesus." 

He had been a slave to that mean, low, vulgar, 
nasty habit of chewing tobacco, and the sinner 
thought, as every person who has a spark of 
neatness must think, that such filth as a swine 
would detest, rolling in his mouth would certainly 
unfit him for telling of the holy, sanctifying love 
of Jesus. 

The rebuke was well-timed. Brother Darling 



252 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

returned sorrowing to the altar, bowed, and there 
solemnly vowed that if this debarred him from 
working efficiently for Christ he would there and 
then give it up forever. The way of duty was 
plain, and for many days he struggled with this 
besetting sin, crying, " I '11 die, but not yield and 
be a slave again." At last he was able, through 
Christ, to overcome the bad habit, and was com- 
pletely victorious in leading one by one of his 
companions to the Savior. 

As the majority of the people worked in the 
factories, it was impossible to have "afternoon 
meetings," and so a new arrangement was made. 
Many could attend for half an hour between 
twelve and one, and the half-past twelve meeting 
was continued for nearly a year. Some thought 
it a foolish undertaking at first, but Mrs. Van 
Cott offered a little prophecy as she remarked, 
" Before we have held the meetings one week 
there will be fifty in attendance." On the fourth 
day one hundred and twelve were present, and 
eleven seeking Jesus. 

Men with their smoky, dusty, oily clothes felt 
ashamed at first to come, but a remark dropped 
at one time satisfied them completely: "Of your 
working-garb I care but little. While I love 
neatness, still I love purity of soul far better. 
Do not think of your soiled clothes and how 



IN NE W ENGLAND. 253 

they may affect me — I know they are necessarily 
so in your daily duties — but think of your un- 
clean hearts and Jesus." 

Among the crowd was a gentleman of dignified 
appearance, who seldom failed to be at church in 
the evening. Directed by some lady, Mrs. Van 
Cott spoke to him as they were passing out of 
the vestibule one evening, and found that he was 
inclined to the dangerous doctrine of Universal- 
ism, and yet desiring to know the true way to 
heaven ; satisfied that he was not prepared to 
meet his God in peace, and that there was prep- 
aration necessary to be a Christian, but he could 
not understand the way. He was urged to pray, 
and others remembered him to the mercies of 
the Redeemer. 

She overheard a casual remark like this : " If 
there is any thing in this save excitement, Mr. 
Wilder will try it." This aroused a determina- 
tion to do all in her power to save him. 

As they were coming from the church one 
evening, she said, " Young man, you stand in the 
way of a score of immortal souls," and passed on. 

At the close of the "noon meeting" next day 
he remarked, 

" I think you owe me an apology for the remark 
you made last night." 

" Do you ?" she answered. "A lady should be 



254 MKS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

ever ready to apologize for any rudeness. And 
now, sir, I apologize. Young man," she ex- 
claimed, in deep earnestness, " in the name of 
God I declare you stand in the way of two scores 
of souls, and I am praying to God to take you 
out of the way by converting your precious soul ! 
There, sir, does that apology suit you ! It is the 
best I can do." 

" That is no apology at all, madam," he an- 
swered. 

" It is all I can give. And now, let me beg of 
you, turn to God while you may." 

" I should like to talk with you on the subject," 
he continued, as they walked together toward the 
parsonage. Arriving at the gate, and before he 
turned away, " Mrs. Van Cott," said he, " you 
would like to have me go to that altar, and then 
you could say, 'there is Mr. W. ; he was con- 
verted while I was at that place !' ,: 

" Stop, young man " — she spoke very de- 
cidedly — "you mistake me; I care nothing for 
such an idea, but I do care for your immortal 
soul ; and, I pray you, seek Jesus." 

" Mrs. Van Cott, I will never bow at a Method- 
ist altar ; I will not speak in a Methodist church ; 
but I do wish I knew the right of the matter." 

" Do you feel that you lack wisdom ?" 

" Yes." 



IN NE IV ENGLAND. 255 

" Then ask of God ; he will give wisdom, grace, 
and glory." 

They parted with promises to look heavenward 
for direction, and she with a determination to ask 
the Lord to cut the work short in righteouness. 
A few days passed, and the evidence was given 
her from heaven that he would yield to be saved. 
On reaching the noonday meeting she groaned 
in spirit, saying, " Let it be done now. Lord, now ; 
and if that young man comes in at this hour, help 
him to give up all for thee." 

A brief exhortation, a hymn, and while she 
again urged penitents to come to the altar, he 
entered the room, came directly .forward, dropped 
his hat inside the altar, and kneeled in prayer. 
The faithful ones joined faith, and sent up ear- 
nest supplications in his behalf. At the close of 
the half-hour he arose, saying, 

" I am not yet a converted man, but intend to 
be, by the help of God ! Pray for me." 

In the evening he came forward with the other 
mourners, but, for want of room, was obliged to 
kneel inside of the hand-railing, where, by and by, 
God sweetly blest his soul, and gave him to know 
that there was power in the name of Jesus to 
remove prejudices, strengthen faith, and convert 
the heart. He told the congregation how indig- 
nant he had been when informed that he stood in 



256 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON FAN COTT. 

the way of others, but now, being assured of the 
truth of the warning, he earnestly entreated sin- 
ners to come and seek the Savior. 

The next evening he led his trembling wife to 
the altar, and as her trusting spirit sank into the 
arms of Jesus, joy and gladness came. 

" I will try/' said she, " to be an earnest Chris- 
tian, God being my helper." 

There was a great change in that house, where 
Mrs. Van Cott often found a resting place when 
weary and worn from the strife against sin. Mr. 
Joseph H. Wilder was appointed leader of Shel- 
burne Falls Praying Band, and, though sorely 
grieved at first, yet afterward consented, and 
found his true sphere of Christian labor. The 
noble band of praying ones visited, by invitation, 
many outposts, and God honored the efforts in 
the conversion of souls. 

The Methodists at Conway, Mass., had given up 
the struggle of a feeble existence, and had united 
with the Congregationalists, for the time being. 
The Praying Band received their invitation, vis- 
ited the place, and held their first meeting in a 
private house. This was soon too small, and the 
Town Hall was opened. The old Methodist fire 
was rekindled in the hearts of many, so that in 
less than ten months a Methodist pastor was sent 
there by the Conference, and a nice church was 



IN NE W ENGLAND. 257 

in course of erection. Nor did the Praying Band 
stop at this. Of the scores of meetings held, and 
the numbers awakened, the Book of Life alone 
records. 

The individual cases of remarkable conversions 
were many and striking. Some were taken from 
the whirlpool of intemperance, others from infidel- 
ity ; and the glorious revival at Shelburne Falls 
touched every grade of society. She was present 
when the greater number of the candidates were 
baptized and received into full Church fellowship. 

The next place of labor was Greenfield, Mass., 
where God answered prayer, and many were con- 
verted, but owing to improper care, the lambs of 
the fold were scattered, and but few remained 
with the Church. This caused Mrs. Van Cott no 
little grief, but she was conscious of having done 
her duty faithfully, though the "Master was 
grieved in the house of his friends." 

The good people of Webster, Mass., had sent 
her a strong invitation to assist them in the war- 
fare against sin. Infidelity, in its hardest form, 
was there, and its votaries declared that the 
Methodists were not strong enough to support 
her, and that she would soon be "starved out." 
She received frequent anonymous letters through 
the post-office, with Scripture texts, daring her to 
preach from them. This she did frequently, and, 



258 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

though sometimes it was a " ragged shaft, yet it 
smote them between the joints of their harness. " 

Tracts were scattered among the worshipers, 
and all the powers of darkness arrayed against the 
good work, yet it progressed gloriously. 

At one of the afternoon meetings a soldier of 
the Cross, just enlisted, in the exuberance of his 
joy, cried out, " I have faith to believe we shall 
see fifty souls converted to-night. ,, A fearful 
storm came on, and the attendance was quite 
small, and there seemed to be but little inter- 
est in the meeting. The young man looked 
sadly disappointed ; but, remembering how many 
times her faith had been put to the test, and 
knowing that there were several sinners in the 
house, she said, "I will not leave this house to- 
night until souls are converted." She requested 
them to sing~the doxology, and all who so desired 
were at liberty to retire. The most of the con- 
gregation left, and there seemed to be none left 
upon whom the Spirit of God was moving. While 
they continued singing, four men returned, and in 
answer to an urgent appeal, six persons knelt at 
the altar ; two of them were backsliders. Before 
midnight they were all converted, or reclaimed. 

One young man arose, and shouted the praises 
of God lustily, declaring that, as Mary Magdalene 
had seven devils cast out of her, he had seventy 



IN NE W ENGLAND. 259 

cast out of him. The young soldier of the Cross 
looked greatly encouraged, and thought " the will 
of the Lord be done," but was a little perplexed 
at the difference between the conversion of fifty 
souls and the casting out of seventy devils. 

She again visited Windsor Locks, Conn., and 
found the young converts faithful to their solemn 
vows. While here the friends at Windsor begged 
brother Simpson, the pastor at the Locks, to spare 
her to hold one service for them. This was 
granted, and, after exercises in the church, and 
assisting in handing down a number of candi- 
dates for baptism at the river, she took carriage 
for Windsor. The' gentlemanly young driver was 
not a Christian, and as she unfolded her luncheon, 
she asked, 

" Sammy, won't you eat with me here, and then 
prepare to eat with me at the Supper of the Lamb 
in glory ?" 

" I am not hungry," he replied. 

" Now, Sammy, if you are not hungry for the 
bread that perishes, do n't you long for the living 
bread, ' of which if any man eat he shall live for- 
ever i 

" Yes ; I should like to be a Christian ; but no 
man can live a Christian at the Locks." 

" I do n't believe a word of it, my child, be- 
cause God is able to keep all we commit to his 



26o MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

hands. Now if you will only test this, you will 
find his word is sure. Try it, please, for your 
soul's sake, and for Jesus' sake." 

Thus passed the hour, and they were soon at 
the church. As usual, before closing, she invited 
sinners to the altar, and the first one that came 
was the precious young man. His trusting soul 
soon rested on the promises of the Lord, and he 
was joyously saved. 

" Do you feel that you are saved ?" asked Mrs. 
Van Cott. 

" O, yes," was the firm reply. 

" Will you dare tell it at the Locks ?" she asked. 

" I will tell it every-where." 

" Will you come to the altar to-night, and in 
the presence of the congregation, declare what 
God has done for your soul ?" 

" I will, God helping me." 

Afterward she said, " By your permission I will 
ride home with Mr. John Anderson, and try to 
win his soul for Christ." 

" Do, and I will talk with the man who will ride 
with me," he replied, with a determination to go 
to work immediately for his Master. 

They started. It was a most lovely sunset ; 
the radiant heavens shone forth the resplendent 
glories of the Creator, and her enraptured soul 
could but magnify Him who reveals so much of 



IN NE W ENGLAND. 26 1 

heaven to mortals below. She asked, " Sir, do n't 
that sight draw your soul to think of the glories 
God has laid up for the faithful ? And do you 
'Long to be there, and its glories share ?' " 

" Yes ; I do desire to go to heaven," answered 
Mr. A. 

" Why, then, do n't you prepare for it ?" 

" O, so many people profess religion, but do n't 
live it." 

"My dear sir, is that any thing to you? You 
have not to answer for their sins, but for your 
own. If all the world goes to perdition, will that 
do you any good, or make the pangs of perdition 
less severe ?" 

" No ; but then if others do n't hold out, why, I 
might fail too ; and, as true as you live, I had 
rather die than be a backslider." 

" That 's royal, so far as it goes ; but if the devil 
can hold you just there until death, you will go 
down to inevitable ruin, with all these good inten- 
tions, only to hear his fiendish laugh of contempt 
at your folly. Now be wise, and give your soul 
to God, who is able to save, willing to save, and 
will save, just as soon as you are willing to be 
saved." 

" O, I am willing now," he remarked, " if I only 
thought I could live it, but I am so afraid," 

" Do not fear ; only trust God." 



262 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

He promised to pray ; and a few days after, he 
gave his soul into the hands of a covenant-keep- 
ing God. 

The conversion of John Anderson sent a thrill 
of joy through the Church, and when he made a 
public profession of faith in Christ, at the Meth- 
odist altar, it was clear and decisive. 

After a year's absence, Mrs. Van Cott visited 
that church again, and found the converts " cling- 
ing to the Cross," and pressing nearer to God, 
exemplifying the power of Jesus, which is able to 
keep, as well as save. 

One week was spent at North Manchester, 
Conn. Forty precious souls professed conver- 
sion, and the good pastor, Rev. G. W. Fuller, a 
man of God, full of zeal and the Holy Spirit, 
pressed the young soldiers into the work, and the 
Church was greatly strengthened. 

At Meriden, Conn., Rev. John Pegg, pastor, 
she spent four weeks of successful labors. Over 
one hundred were brought from darkness into 
light. Many of them were prominent citizens of 
the place. 

The question was asked, one Sabbath evening, 
" Is there one soul that would have me pray for it 
to-night in my closet?" A young man in the 
gallery raised his hand. As she passed him, in 
going from the audience-room, she said : 




MERIDEN (CONN.) CHURCH. 



IN NE W ENGLAND. 263 

" Dear child, pray to God to give you a clean 
heart." 

" I will pray," he answered, with Swedish accent. 

The next night he was made happy in Jesus, 
and became one of those firm, rock -abiding 
Christians. 

Another case : A lady, with a sweet, winning 
face, tarried a little behind the rest, when Mrs. 
Van Cott said, " God bless you !" 

She was touched, and melted to tears, but an- 
swered, " Why should he bless me ? I have 
turned away from his offered, love ; I am not 
worthy of his love; but, O, I want it; I must 
have it ; it is just what I need ! I will seek it." 

At home with her husband they talked over 
their duty, and kneeled before God in prayer. 
The everlasting arms were underneath them, and 
they were sweetly blest. They grew rapidly in 
grace, and became conscious of the " fullness of 
the Gospel of peace." 

Another was a lady, who had once experienced 
this great blessing, but, led by professed friends, 
had embraced an erroneous doctrine, and was 
cast into midnight darkness and tossed about as 
a ship without rudder or compass. She came 
forward for prayers, but seemed to make little 
progress, more than to say, " I am trying to be- 
lieve ; I am trying, trying." 



264 MA'S, MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

At this point many linger in anguish. At once 
she was instructed that, having tried y and done 
all that God required, and that she could do, it 
was for her to rest believingly in Christ. 

If persons coming to God would only believe 
" that he is" and, as his immutable Word declares 
him to be, "a rewarder of them that diligently 
seek him," how soon they might find rest in his 
love ! 

To those present Mrs. Van Cott urged, " Do n't 
try to trust God's Word, but do it, and peace will 
be yours." They did so, and were blest. 

A young man, on reaching his boarding place, 
was asked, " Were you at the meetings ?" 

" Yes," he replied, " and stayed until they be- 
gan to raise the devil, and then I left." About a 
week after he was found at the altar of prayer, 
and, after a severe struggle, found peace. His 
testimony was : 

" Bless God ! he has raised the devil out of me, 
and given me his Son to fill my heart. I am 
saved !" His face beamed with joy, and his her- 
itage a " rest of faith." 

There was one over whom she had a severe 
struggle of soul. It seemed impossible for him 
to lay his proud heart at the foot of the Cross. 
One Sabbath she kneeled by his side in church, 
and prayed earnestly, weeping, and begging of 



IN NEW ENGLAND. 26$ 

God to help him just then. To one of her in- 
quiries he answered, 

" I will settle the matter to-day, and make the 
choice ; only please do n't weep, you make me feel 
so sad/' 

" Settle it, then, dear brother, before the close 
of the evening meeting," she urged. 

"I must settle it," said he, "now, or I am un- 
done. O, pray for me !" 

The Spirit of God had touched his heart, and 
awakened him to a sense of his immediate salva- 
tion. He arose, and with him came his wife. 
They kneeled at the altar, prayed, believed, 
trusted, and were -saved. On a beautiful Christ- 
mas-gift, which he presented to Mrs. Van Cott, 
was this motto engraved, " They that sow in tears 
shall reap in joy" 

A poor, distressed wife came to the altar, 
pleading with God for her husband. As the 
weeping ones arose from their knees, near where 
" Lizzie " had kneeled, on the hand-railing was a 
large tear-drop ; in fact, it was not one, but a num- 
ber mingled together. The thought was sug- 
gested to the leader, Are not those tears bottled, 
and registered for glory ? A short time after- 
ward, the husband, the subject of so many prayers 
and tears, came and kneeled at the same spot, was 
accepted of God, and when the probationers were 

20 



266 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

received, he was among the number, standing 
where he was converted ; and, after eight months, 
when the faithful candidates were received into 
full membership, he came to the same spot again. 
This happy coincidence caused no little joy, 
and was treasured up among the bright memories. 




CHAPTER XV. 



VICTORIES IN THE WEST. 




EPEATED invitations came for Mrs. 
Van Cott to visit the West. She left 
the East in December, 1870, with its 
mountains, valleys, and picturesque scenery, for 
the city of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The part- 
ings, the tears, the waving of hands as the train 
left Jersey City, soon made her sad and lonely. 
Over those distant hills, fading so rapidly, lin- 
gered memories of childhood, and one spot was 
more dear than all — the snow-clad grave. 

And then the great city where she was con- 
verted, the mission with the many poor souls 
wondering why she was gone so long, and the 
loved child, now grown, and whose heart another 
had won, all combined to depress her spirit. 

That sweet hymn afforded a new thought — 

" The consecrated cross I '11 bear, 
Till death shall set me free ; 
And then go home, my crown to wear, 
For there 's a crown for me.' 7 

267 



268 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

At the word home the tears gushed out afresh. 
Father-in-law, mother-in-law, child, husband, all 
the home group scattered and gone! She was 
alone, among total strangers, and going where all 
were strangers, save Rev. W. H. Daniels, of Clark- 
Street Methodist Episcopal Church, Chicago, from 
whom she had received her first invitation to the 
great West, but who had kindly waived his claim 
to the pastor of Fond du Lac, for her to labor 
there before coming to Chicago. 

As the morning express left Chicago and pushed 
out over the snow-bound prairies, the keen cutting 
air weaving its magic frost-work on the car win- 
dows, from the congealing breath of the iron- 
horse, and no clump of trees or mountain to 
break the "dreary wilderness plain," she sighed 
for the New England hills again. 

Night settled down before reaching the place 
of her destination, and on entering the depot, 
found it empty ; not a soul in the ladies' room to 
receive her. As she was about to inquire of the 
ticket agent the time of the first train eastward, 
a tall gentleman came in hurriedly, his face all 
beaming with gladness. "Glad to see you, sister 
Van Cott, glad to welcome you to our great West, 
and to our city. Was a little behind, but my 
sleigh is now in waiting. You must be weary 



VICTORIES IN THE WEST. ' 269 

from your long journey ; let 's go over to the 
parsonage." 

In a few moments the gentle wife of Dr. W. 
H. Window was assisting the lady evangelist in 
taking off her wrappings, and they sat down to 
spend a happy evening. 

During evening devotions, all the past journey 
and partings came up fresh again, but as they 
parted for the night, the good Father in Israel 
said, *' Do n't feel sad, child ; there are warm, lov- 
ing hearts in the West as well as in the East. 
God will not only raise you up friends here, but 
he has already, and any thing we can do to make 
you happy shall be done." No less attentive and 
kind was the daughter than the mother to all 
the wants of their guest. Strangers came in with 
their warmest welcome, bidding her Godspeed in 
the work about to open among them. 

Colton-Street Church was full that evening, but 
the faces were all strange, and she knew not how 
they would receive the messages of salvation from 
her lips. Before the exercises closed, a few mercy 
drops were given in token of the coming shower. 
Criticism, opposition in the Church and out of it, 
was rife. Some came to see, and went away with 
a smitten soul. Others would not come so long 
as she was there, for they had no sympathy with 
a " woman preacher." But the spark of grace 



27O MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

caught in the dry stubble and the flame soon 
spread through the city. 

All denominations united simultaneously in 
their own temples, waving the blood-stained ban- 
ner of the Cross, and every standard-bearer cried, 
" Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away 
the sins of the world !" 

For a while the converts were from the country 
and adjoining towns, but the city was moved also. 
The revival was similar to hundreds of others, and 
can only be remembered by the incidents of the 
occasion. Of the scores of these, we select a few. 

The young converts' meeting was generally 
held just before the public services in the large 
audience-room. At the close of one of these a 
young man full of religious joy, said, " I know I 
am converted. I '11 tell you why. To-day, pass- 
ing .through the street, a dog jumped on me and 
tore my new pants. A week ago I would have 
sworn at him, but, bless God ! religion takes all 
the swear out of a fellow. I never so much as 
thought of swearing. I am happy. O, there 's so 
much glory in my soul." 

The audience struck up and sung with a will : 

" Glory to God, I 'm at the fountain drinking," etc. 

The editor of the Fond du Lac Commonwealth 
being present one evening at the deeply interest- 



VICTORIES IN THE WEST 2J\ 

ing exercises, heard the words, " Thou art the 
man." In a short editorial next day, he remarked 
that the speaker had painted his picture com- 
pletely. This led her, with many others, to pray 
for the " Colonel." Several weeks rolled away, 
but still the burden remained, and the Scriptures 
ever spoke, saying, " Ask whatsoever ye will, and 
it shall be done unto you." At last the evidence 
of faith was given. That night J. A. Watrous 
and Frank Parsons and his wife bowed humbly at 
the altar of God. The editor's testimony was, 

" To-day, at my office, I decided for God." 

It was the same hour that Mrs. Van Cott re- 
ceived the evidence of faith of his acceptance 
with God. 

Going through the congregation, she said to an 
elderly gentleman, " Do you love Jesus ?" 

" Not as you do," was the response. 

" Indeed, I do not love him as he should be 
loved, but I am doing the best I can. Are you 
doing so too ?" she continued. 

" I guess not." 

" Do you feel the necessity of so doing ?" 

" Yes, I know it is right, but I have not got at 
it yet." 

" Do n't you feel conscious that what you do 
must be done quickly ? You have but a few 
years to live, and there is much for you to do." 



2*]2 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

"Yes, I know it. I have many in my family 
who are unsaved, and — " 

" You stand in their way. O, give your heart 
to God I" 

"Not to-night." 

The same old sentence of procrastination was 
given as a positive refusal to her entreaties. 

" ' Not to-night/ Well, when will you yield ?" 

" To-morrow." 

"Amen!" she cried. "Brethren, join with me 
in asking God to spare the life of this man until 
to-morrow night, for he says at that time he will 
yield to be saved." 

The case was one of deep interest for her 
and many in the congregation who were well 
acquainted with this citizen. The next night he 
was not present, and they feared he was ill, and 
prayer was still offered in his behalf. 

The day following was the holy Sabbath. The 
sun arose beautifully, and soon the cheerful bells 
called the worshipers to a " love-feast." Pass- 
ing down the aisle, she met the old gentleman, 
who said, 

" I did not get here last night, as I promised, 
but now you shall have two instead of one. Wife 
is coming with me." 

Before one o'clock that day those two aged 
ones were happy through faith in the atonement 



VICTORIES IN THE WEST. 2J5 

of Christ. At once their hearts yearned for 
their family, and in answer to prayer several 
of their children were converted. They opened 
their home for meetings, and under their roof 
many souls were born of the Spirit. 

One evening shortly after this man was con- 
verted, when called upon to give his testimony, 
he arose and handed Mrs. Van Cott a note con- 
taining the substance, in words, of his speech. 
Looking it over hastily, she replied, 

" I can not read your testimony ; you tell it." 

He arose, made the effort, and did remarkably 
well. 

A young lady kneeled at the altar, sad, gloomy, 
full of fears and forebodings, and, though present 
among the mourners for many nights, she could 
get no relief. The leader asked, 

" Georgia, what is the matter ? Why are you 
not blessed ?" 

" There is no blessing for me ; I have been a 
great sinner," she replied, sobbing. 

" Have you remembered," said the leader, " that 
Jesus is a great Savior, and that he came to save 
the chief of sinners ? Have you given him your 
heart ?" 

" No, I am afraid not." 

" Do it at once, then." 

"I can't." 



274 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN C0T2 

" Stop ! Say, I won't. Do n't add to your 
already numerous sins." 

" I do n't want to do that, but there is no use, 
I can't be saved." 

" Not a word of truth in it. You can be saved 
if you only will. Will you give your heart to the 
Savior now, this moment ?" 

A look of inexpressible woe swept over that 
already anguished face, and she groaned out, 

" I can not." 

" No, no," continued Mrs. Van Cott ; " say the 
truth, ' I will not,' and then tell me why you 
will not." 

" Because," she answered, " he would send me 
among the heathen, and I can not go." 

" Believe me, child, that is a trick of the evil 
one. Give yourself to Jesus, and he will regulate 
that according to his infinite wisdom." 

" I can 't," she answered again and again. 

" Then please arise." 

She did so. 

" Now go and sit down in the pew. You can 
never be saved until you are willing that God 
should do his will concerning you. I doubt 
whether he would send you to the heathen ; you 
are too willful." 

With one heart-rending burst of agony she 
cried out, as she fell again at the altar, " I '11 



VICTORIES IN THE WEST. 2?$ 

never leave this place until Jesus blesses me, if I 
die here." 

" Amen ! God grant that all sin may die in 
you !" shouted Mrs. Van Cott. 

Many of the true Christians linked their faith 
together, and before midnight Georgia Benedict 
received forgiveness of sins by sweetly trusting 
in Jesus. " The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 
peace." It was thus manifested in her life. She 
received, in a few months, "exhorters license," 
and was very efficient in the work of leading 
souls to Christ. 

The Index, of Milwaukee, Wis., thus speaks of 
Mrs. Van Cott's labors at Fond du Lac : 

" Such simple, mighty eloquence, was never heard be- 
fore ; it was the outburst of Christian love, in the sweet, 
earnest tones of a woman's iiery pleadings for Christ and 
salvation. ' Full of faith and the Holy Ghost,' she would 
leave the pulpit, glide along the aisles, from pew to pew, 
pleading with this one, and reasoning with that one — 
making the argument stronger by the hot tears that were 
falling from her eyes — taking the weak one by the hand 
and leading her up to the altar of prayer. Thus she toiled 
and won souls for Christ. Seven weeks she labored thus. 
During the seven weeks she preached 52 times, held 153 
meetings, spent 347 hours in meeting, mostly on her feet, 
515 seekers professed the Savior, and nearly 200 joined the 
Methodist Episcopal Church on probation, and, though she 
is gone to Oshkosh, the work still goes on. 

" The labors of the past year, which, with her, termin- 
ated on the 18th of February, 1871, are as follows: She 



276 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

spent 1,766 hours in meeting ; 2,949 seekers found Jesus ; 
7,208 miles traveled ; 650 letters written ; 828 meetings 
held; preached 339 times, and received 1,735 members on 
probation in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

" Her wonderful powers are not from the schools, for she 
has been a pupil in none except the school of Christ since 
she was ten years of age. She gets it from Jesus, for she 
spends one-fourth of her waking hours in her closet, when 
not in church on her knees. 

"Just one hundred years from the first planting of Amer- 
ican Methodism, she was licensed to preach — the com- 
mencement of a new era in the Christian Church. 

"It presents woman in its true sphere — vying with 
men, not in political strife, but on the platform, as in the 
'Woman's Foreign Missionary Society,' and in the pulpit 
winning souls for Christ, with the eloquence unknown 
since Pentecost, and moving the whole Church as it never 
was moved before. She has demonstrated the right of 
woman to call sinners to repentance, feels that she has her 
rights, and seeks no other." 

The pastor of the Congregational Church found 
an unusual quickening among the members and 
attendants of his Church, and immediately gave 
an opportunity for those who desired to unite 
with them in Church fellowship. He stated pub- 
licly that the fruit he was gathering came from 
the Cotton-Street Methodist Church revival, and 
that he was glad to bid the lady Godspeed in 
winning souls for Christ. 

Almost every Church in the city received large 
accessions — even the Catholics were unusually 
moved. A large delegation waited on their priest, 



VICTORIES IN THE WEST. 2JJ 

and asked him to appoint a meeting, and read to 
them the Bible. He turned them off without 
granting their request. Half a dozen or more 
came to the Protestant meeting, were convicted, 
converted, and joined the Church. Praying bands 
were formed, both male and female, and the work 
went bravely on. 

The " Young Converts' Meeting " became fa- 
mous for good, being held several times during 
the week at " outposts," and now and then in 
saloons, and places where the minions of the evil 
one had a strong hold. 

At Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Rev. W. P. Stowe had 
been holding meetings for five weeks with good 
success. Fifty souls had found the Lord in the 
pardon of their sins before Mrs. Van Cott arrived. 
The field was white for the harvest. The work 
had been mostly among the children ; but some 
of the older ones stood aloof, saying, " We will 
not go in the midst of the children — it is a trun- 
dle-bed work, at best." The good pastor, not 
willing to have the " lambs of the fold " harmed, 
joined with Mrs. Van Cott in asking the Lord 
how to proceed. At the Young Converts' meet- 
ing that evening, before the public exercises, she 
asked all that desired to work for the Master to 
hold up their hands. Up went a score or two of 
little hands, and the work took a fresh start. As 



278 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

soon as the sermon was over, and the prayer- 
meeting begun in the audience-room, the young 
converts passed out quietly, entered the lecture- 
room in the basement, and commenced praying 
for sinners. In her zeal for the cause of Christ 
she forgot the children till nearly half-past nine 
o'clock, when the audience heard their sweet 
voices below, singing, 

" We 're going home, we 're going home ! 
We 're going to die no more !" 

It was thrilling, and the leader turned the child- 
faith into an arm of power immediately. The 
young converts had asked that twenty souls might 
bow at the altar, and give their hearts to God. 
The meeting held till 11 o'clock; and a little 
before that time the children came up into the 
audience-room. On inquiry it was found that, at 
and near the altar, nearly a hundred persons had 
bowed as seekers of pardon, or a deeper work of 
grace. The sacred flame spread as fire among 
dry stubble. Afternoon meetings were appointed, 
and were unusually large — the people finding it 
pleasant to spend from seven to ten hours in their 
church every day of the revival. 

The incidents of the meeting afforded much 
which is worth remembering. 

A man of seventy-six years came forward for 
prayers, and found relief from his burden of sin. 



VICTORIES IN THE WEST 279 

His pious wife had walked alone in Christian 
faith nearly all of her days. In the light of God's 
truth the aged couple were very happy for a sea- 
son ; but in one month the man of years rested 
from his toil, and slept in Christ. He was truly 
a brand plucked from the burning. 

One evening forty-four penitents bowed at the 
altar, seeking Jesus in the pardon of their sins, 
and, in less than two hours, forty-four professed 
to have found, then and there, that for which they 
had been praying. 

A dear little lady in the audience seemed deeply 
moved, but could not be induced to come to the 
altar. After many had been converted, she con- 
sented to bow in her pew. The next day she went 
to the altar, that being to her the stumbling block. 
As she reached the place where the penitents were 
kneeling, she cried to Mrs. Van Cott, " O do n't 
leave me, do n't leave me." 

Being instructed in the way of faith, she seemed 
to follow quite readily, and was soon happy in 
Jesus' love, " clothed and in her right mind." 

As Mrs. Van Cott entered the church one even- 
ing a note was placed in her hand, which read thus : 

" Dear Sister, — My father compels me to leave the 
Church. I fear I shall never see you again. But do pray 
for me. 

:i Yours in Jesus, " 



280 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

Hurriedly she wrote on the other side : 

" Now is the time to prove that you have put on Christ. 
While under this pressure, be meek and cheerful to all. 
Yes, prove that God's children can be calm in the severest 
trials. Be very gentle to your father. I will pray for you. 
The Lord bless you." 

The good advice was taken. She returned to 
the meeting in a few days, and with her came her 
husband, who found joy and pardon at the altar 
of God. 

The last Sabbath came — " the last great day 
of the feast." The pastor opened the doors of 
the Church for all who so desired to join on a six 
months' probation ; and if they continued stead- 
fast for that length of time, they should be re- 
ceived into full membership. While the congre- 
gation was singing they came forward and formed 
a line around the altar. This being done, a sec- 
ond row was quickly made, and then a third ; and 
still they came. 

The minister asked, 

" What shall we do ?" 

" Form a row inside of the altar," said Mrs. 
Van Cott. 

This was done, and then still another inside of 
that, until all who wanted to find a home in that 
Church could thus be designated and give their 
names to the secretaries or the pastor. A word 



VICTORIES IN THE WEST. 28 1 

of encouragement was spoken to each by the 
pastor and Mrs. Van Cott. This over, the oppor- 
tunity was given for any who desired baptism to 
receive that solemn rite. 

Fifty-eight came forward, the aged and the 
young. The pastor read the solemn baptismal 
service and they responded audibly. 

As is usual, the minister asked for the given- 
name of each before the immediate act of bap- 
tism ; and just here a most singular coincidence 
occurred. The names announced were, Solomon, 
David, Joseph, and then Job. Passing on to 
where a lady was kneeling, the name of Naomi 
was heard. 

At this, hearts overflowed with joy, and shouts 
filled the place. It was a glorious day's work ; 
one hundred and eight persons had united with 
the Church, and fifty-eight received the rite of 
baptism. Among the number was one of the 
richest men of the city, as well as the largest 
farmer in the State of Wisconsin. 

Monday she started eastward, but on the way 

must fill two appointments. The young converts 

at Fond du Lac had arranged that she should 

not pass through the city without giving them a 

call. The meeting was appointed at two o'clock, 

in the church, and at that unfavorable hour of 

Monday, the house was well filled. Several pas- 

21 



282 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

tors were present representing their Churches — 
the noble man of God from the Congregation- 
alism the Presbyterian minister, a Baptist, an 
Evangelist from Chicago, the German Methodist, 
the presiding elder of the Fond du Lac district, 
and the pastor in charge. 

A speaking-meeting followed, in which all bore 
excellent testimonies of the love of Christ. 

The fire burned so brightly that the excellent 
Presbyterian minister said, " If this is Methodism, 
God grant that we may all become Methodists 
at once I" 

Presently an invitation was given for seekers 
to come to the altar. Thirty-five came, and in a 
short time received the blessing of heaven. 

She had barely time to reach the train and 
secure a ticket for Chicago, where she was to 
lecture the next evening. 

The morning after, the following comments 
appeared in the Tribune: 

"A large audience assembled, last evening, in the 
Clark-Street Methodist Church, to listen to an address on 
'Revival Scenes and Experiences,' by Mrs. Van Cott. 
The efforts of this Lidy as a revivalist appear to have met 
with extraordinary success, and these efforts have been 
something prodigious. 

"The curiosity manifested to see and hear so vigorous a 
laborer in the vineyard, had the effect of filling the church. 
After some soul-inspiring air on the organ by Professor 
Creswold, prayer was offered by Dr. Fowler. 



VICTORIES IN THE WEST. 283 

" Rev. W. H. Daniels, in introducing the speaker, said 
he had been requested by the sister to apologize for a 
hoarseness which afflicted her, the result of much work 
and many words, but he felt sure they would forget the 
apology as they listened to her message. 

" Mrs. Van Cott then presented herself. The vast field 
of labor over which she had traveled, and the many words 
she had uttered, did not seem to have left any traces of 
fatigue on her healthy frame or comely countenance, over 
which played a good-humored and benignant smile, which 
at once prepossessed the audience in her favor. She said 
the brother reckoned there was no necessity to apologize for 
her hoarseness, but she begged to differ with him. Having 
toiled unceasingly in revival work, her voice had been im- 
paired, but her heart, thank God, was still burning with 
Jesus' love, and she trusted they would accept the love of 
her heart. 

"Here Mrs. Van Cott paused, and addressed a brief in 
vocation to God to look down with favor upon her labors, 
and to bless them. She then proceeded to address the 
audience. 

" Presently the speaker turned abruptly to the reporters' 
table, and said she hoped these gentlemen would desist 
from taking notes. It always made her feel nervous. She 
knew her speeches would look funny if they were printed. 
She did not wish to say any thing, however, against the 
reporters, God bless them ! * So go along, gentlemen, with 
your notes, I do n't care. God bless the reporters.' 

" Several clergymen responded with a loud and emphatic 
'amen,' whereupon the audience took up the burden, and 
there was a good deal of applause, the only expression of 
the kind indulged in during the proceedings ! 

"She referred frequently, and in affecting terms, to the 
death of the late Mr. Van Cott, and drew a vivid picture 
of his death-bed. Some of her experiences at the mission 
in the Five Points were interesting, and from her recollcc- 



284 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

tion she recalled many touching incidents of conversion, 
from which was drawn a useful moral. 

" At the close of her remarks a collection was taken up 
for the benefit of the mission fund. Mrs. Van Cott said 
she wanted $500 from the audience that night. The audi- 
ence did not respond quite to that extent, but a liberal 
donation was given." 





CHAPTER XVI. 
IN THE PULPIT. 

E give the following sketches of Mrs. 
Van Cott's sermons on our own respon- 
sibility. The first was delivered in the 
Duane Methodist Episcopal Church, New York, 
Rev. A. M'Lean, .pastor, May 23, 1869, and was 
printed in the New York World of next day. 
The second was preached in the Fourteenth 
Ward Industrial School-house, 116 Elizabeth- 
street, and appeared one week later. 

After reading the seventh chapter of Matthew, 
singing and prayer, the speaker said : 

The Lord is in his holy temple ; let all the 

earth keep silence before him. I am aware, dear 

friends, to-night, that I stand before some of you 

who have learned to love me, and many who for 

years have accounted me as a sister in Christ ; and 

I bless God that I have this precious privilege, 

" even though it be a cross that raiseth me." 

I am also aware that I stand before some who 

285 



286 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

will judge me severely ; but, dear ones, it matters 
but little to me what your judgment may be, as 
long as I feel acquitted before the Judge of the 
whole earth. Dear Savior, grant that those who 
have entered within the house of God may find 
the gate of heaven ! You will find the words 
selected for my text for this evening's medita- 
tion — and now, dear friends, do n't expect to hear 
a great sermon, because I am no sermonizer ; I 
am only up to talk for Jesus, and if you call it 
preaching, it is your own look-out, and not mine. 
I simply stand up before you a sinner, and noth- 
ing else. But I want to present to you my Jesus, 
and God grant that you may see him in his glory ! 
My text is taken from the ioth chapter of He- 
brews and part of the 23d verse : 

" Let us hold fast the profession of our faith 
without wavering. ,, 

St. Paul had been talking to the Hebrews in 
reference to the sacrificial death of our Redeemer, 
and had shown them how this precious blood of 
Christ had put away sin and uncleanness. He 
had presented to them the true and living way, 
even the way of the cross. He had told them 
how they should draw near with true hearts 
in full assurance of faith, having their hearts 
sprinkled from an evil conscience and their bod- 
ies washed with the pure water of heaven ; then 



IN THE PULPIT. 287 

no doubt looking upon them and beholding some 
who had professed the faith in Christ, and yet 
had wavered and vacillated — that they had laid 
hold on Christ one day, and on another had 
turned back to the world — St. Paul, observing 
them, began to exhort them to hold fast the pro- 
fession of their faith ; for St. Paul understood very 
well, as every searcher of the Scriptures under- 
stands, that unless we, after having professed 
faith in Christ, hold thereto by faith, and simple 
faith, in vain is our profession. And this to my 
soul is a great grief and sorrow, and to every 
observing child of God it is so, that when we 
enter the Church of God and see upon the reg- 
ister so many that have bowed about the conse- 
crated altar, and have then made a profession of 
their faith in God, we in a few brief days find 
that the adversary of souls has come in and 
drawn them away by his wicked devices, and 
they follow in the footsteps of that dark fiend of 
despair, who leads them to inevitable destruction. 
And therefore it behooves every soul who pro- 
fesses a love for the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 
that they stand upon the watch-tower and watch, 
lest the adversary should overcome them. And 
not only are we to stand there, but we are con- 
stantly to hold onto the blood-stained cross of 
our faith. How my soul revels in and enjoys the 



288 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

holy, blood-stained cross ; how I love to stand 
up before a dying world and proclaim the risen 
Jesus ; how much I love to tell of the precious 
blood that cleanses away the sins of the world ! 

" Whosoever will come to me." The invitation 
is as wide as the world, and it is as broad as 
eternity — it takes in every son and daughter of 
Adam. The Bible teaches us that there is a 
hell ; but, loving ones, it is not for you or me. 
It is prepared for the devil and his angels, and if 
you enter it you go there determinedly and will- 
fully. And how many there are that are going 
in the downward road ! You are gathered here 
to-night, but it does not show that you are the 
children of God. There may be many who have 
been led here to-night, and what for ? " What 
went ye out for to see, a reed shaken by the 
wind ?" How vain, then, was your coming here 
to-night ! You had no idea of worshiping God. 
You came here out of idle curiosity, and to see 
what ? A sinner, saved by grace. 

Glory be to Christ ! And I would, like St. 
Paul, exclaim to-night, Would to God that you 
all felt the pardoning blood of Christ as this 
poor, sinful heart has been permitted to feel it ; 
that you might rejoice in the love of Jesus, who 
sits to-night on the mediatorial throne to inter- 
cede in your behalf! Many say that I am apt to 



IN THE PULPIT. 289 

utter truths extremely plain, and I would like to 
speak plainly to you. I would like to speak to 
those who profess faith in Christ. The worldly 
do not expect to be guiding-stars pointing up to 
heaven ; but the professing children of God, be 
they never so young, never so aged, we expect to 
see them walk with an upright and public con- 
versation, being distinguished and separated from 
the world. You remember, brethren, that there 
was a difference in that night when the destroy- 
ing angel passed over Egypt. Among the Egyp- 
tians there was a darkness that might be felt, but 
in the house of Israel there was light. So there 
is a difference between God's people and the peo- 
ple of the devil. But I wish there was a greater 
difference. How I wish that every one that felt 
God's love would stand out a peculiar people ! 
There would not be then so many sinners in the 
world. But the trouble is that there are profess- 
ors that are not possessors ; that a sinner is per- 
fectly at ease in their company. They feel sure 
that they will never hear about Jesus. The sin- 
ner may go into their society for many months, 
but they never hear any thing of the Lord. I 
met a gentleman a few weeks since — my custom 
is at the revivals to go among them and speak to 
them individually — and I stooped down and said 
to a gentleman, " Brother, do you love Jesus ?" 



290 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

The gentleman was about forty. He looked up 
and said, " That is a strange question." " There 
is nothing strange about it," said I. " My simple 
question is, Do you love Jesus ?" " I have been 
a professor of religion twenty years," replied he, 
" and no one has ever said such a thing as that to 
me." " Look into your heart, and say whether 
you love Jesus." " I would not like to answer 
the question." " Well, you are a sinner, and I 
beseech you to go to the altar and ask Christ to 
give you religion." I am really glad that the 
Methodist religion is known at once. Years ago 
I was thought to be as good as necessary, and 
yet I was as worldly as was any one. I was just 
as fond of society and the giddy follies of life, 
but God in his mercy saved me. One night I 
sat in the third seat there, and John Parker stood 
here and said, "The soul that sinneth it shall 
die." It fell upon my soul. I knew that it 
meant me — that there was no escape for me. 
And then I looked up and saw upon the accursed 
tree the five bleeding wounds of my Redeemer, 
and that spoke of redemption and full salvation 
pure. I cried out, " God take me and make me 
all thine own." But a few weeks later — there are 
some brethren here who can testify — one asked 
me to come to the class-meeting in the school- 
room beneath. I said no, that I did not think it 



IN THE PULPIT. 291 

looked well to see a lady speak in public. But 
you see I have got bravely over it. [Laughter.] 
" Well," said the old man, " I '11 tell you what I 
will do. If you come you shall not be asked to 
speak ; only come and help us to sing." And so I 
attended the class-meeting, and I heard one sister 
speak of her love for Jesus, and then, as her eyes 
became lighted up, she began to expatiate upon 
the glories of this religion. My heart began to 
condemn me. By and by a dear old saint rose 
and said, " O, I rejoice that I have this precious 
privilege, for the Bible teaches me that ' he who 
confesses me before men I will confess before my 
Father and his angels.' " That was an arrow to 
my soul. I felt as if I was ashamed of Jesus, 
and he would be ashamed of me. Still I had no 
idea of saying a solitary word. He then came 
and said, " We won't ask you, dear sister, to 
speak. God bless our dear sister!" And he has 
blessed me. Halleluiah to his name ! There 
came from heaven an electric spark, and it 
thrilled through me. Halleluiah to the Lamb ! 
I am ready now, not only to speak for Jesus, but 
to die for Jesus. They tell me that I have no 
right to do this. But God forgive me if I do 
wrong to speak for Jesus ; but I will, and when 
my voice is hushed in death my soul will be 
attuned in power. Halleluiah to the Lamb of 



292 MA'S. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

God ! I am glad that there is coming a day of 
judgment, when these critics and I will have to 
stand before the throne of God and answer for 
the sins done in the body. And if I did nothing 
more wicked than to speak for Jesus the pearly 
gates will be thrown open, and then my soul will 
be in the presence of Him whom I adore. I am 
determined to hold fast the profession of my faith 
without wavering. You see yonder that majestic 
ship riding upon the waves. She seems as if 
being lulled to sleep. The breeze seems to fan 
the sails, and she rides with majesty, sublimity, 
and grandeur. But • look at yonder cloud. It 
seems to be all calmness and peace. But it 
draws near. Hark to the whistling wind ! Hark 
to the peals of thunder as they rattle in the heav- 
ens ! And immediately all is confusion. They 
hasten upon deck, and the command goes forth, 
" Reef the sails," and they are quickly gathered 
up by nimble fingers. And then the giant waves 
begin to roll, the sky looks angry, and the clouds 
look fierce, and all nature seems convulsed. Just 
then you see a form upon the towering wave. 
The sailors have picked up a coil of rope and 
thrown it out, and the man lays hold upon it, and 
nothing will compel him to relax his tenacious 
grasp. And why? Because he sees salvation 
just ahead, and therefore he holds on until they 



IN THE PULPIT. . 293 

bring him up over the side. Sinner, so it is with 
you. You are tossed upon the tempestuous bil- 
lows, but to-night Jesus casts out the rope of 
faith and bids you catch it. It is the opportunity 
for you to be drawn safely to heaven. Will you 
be drawn into the haven of rest ? God help you ! 
Let us hold on by faith. This matter of faith is 
to me most interesting, but now, as in the time 
of the antediluvians, it is looked upon as a sort of 
fanaticism. When they saw the old man of that 
time building his ark, and laying the keel safe 
and strong, they shrugged their shoulders and 
said it was time that he was taken care of, he is 
crazy. But when they saw him- and his family 
go in, and the door shut by the hand of God, 
then they began to fear. And by and by the 
fountains of the great deep are broken up. 
They climb to the topmost pinnacle to escape 
the waters, but it is useless. Though he is a 
God of mercy, he is also a God of justice. O, 
glory be to Christ ! Trust to God, and we can 
not fall or falter. No, though the world despise 
and leave us, yet we have dear Jesus. May God 
bless you, and grant that when congregations 
break up on earth they may meet in heaven, 
where congregations never break up, and Sab- 
baths have no end ! May we mingle with that 
redeemed host, and sing forever the praises of 



294 MRS - MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

his glory! May the Lord grant it, for the 
Redeemer's sake ! Amen ! 

ISAIAH lv, 6, 7. 

" Seek ye the Lord while he may be found ; call ye upon him 
while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the un- 
righteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, 
and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will 
abundantly pardon." 

She said : I come to you to-night with a glo- 
rious invitation. I stand to-night before many 
who know not Jesus — who have not the Savior — 
who never have felt the power of pardoning love. 
To you I would say, " Seek ye the Lord while he 
may be found." There is in the text certainly 
that which implies that there will be a time when 
you will seek and the blessed Father will not be 
found. There will be an hour when you will call, 
but his ear, that to-night is wide open to hear the 
faintest cry of the penitent soul, will be closed to 
your groan, and you may wait with longing agony 
of soul, entreating God to have mercy, but the 
day of mercy will be clean gone forever. But the 
loving voice calls to-night, " Seek while he may 
be found ;" and if you persist to-night, and reject 
the offer of salvation, God knows but this may be 
the very last opportunity. 

You all understand with what tenacity, and 
eagerness, and zeal, a man who starts in life with 



IN THE PULPIT. . 295 

the intention of becoming rich, will wait, and 
labor, and watch, and strive for the object. You 
see a young man starting in business. See what 
interest he will show ; how he will persevere, and 
toil, early and late, night and day, scarcely giving 
himself sufficient rest. And why? Because he 
is determined to reach the goal. I remember a 
gentleman at one time, quite young, who said : I 
will, before I am fifty, be worth fifty thousand dol- 
lars. Then he was not worth ten dollars. He 
started in business — he labored faithfully and ear- 
nestly, with great desire, for there ahead was the 
great point — but the adversary, who goes about 
roaring and seeking whom he. may devour, got 
possession of that young man's soul, and, instead 
of obtaining that fifty thousand dollars, the devil 
tempted him away from the path of rectitude and 
right, and, so earnest was he to obtain that which 
would place him above want, that he started aside 
from the bounds of right, and he went down ; and 
to-day he is worth nothing. 

That is not the way I come this evening to 
you. I come to ask you to seek for that which is 
above price. I do not come here to show you the 
way to become a millionaire, but something that 
is worth obtaining — an interest in the blood of 
Jesus — that blood that cleanses from all unright- 
eousness — that blood through whose washing you 



296 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

may gain an entrance into the Celestial city. And 
I beseech you to act as the woman in the Script- 
ure did when she had lost a piece of silver ; she 
lit her candle and searched diligently until she 
found it, and then called in her neighbors and 
asked them to rejoice with her, for she had found 
it. Or, again, like the man who had lost the 
sheep, who searched for the same perseveringly, 
until he had found it, and rejoiced therein. Dear 
sinner, you are certainly lost unless you begin at 
once and seek Christ. Will you do it ? Will 
you this night turn away from the beggarly ele- 
ments of the world, and press toward the mark for 
the prize of your high calling in Christ. Jesus ? 
There is no sorrow there. There is nothing be- 
yond this vale of tears but joy and everlasting 
bliss, if you pass through the dark waters of the 
river of death with the strength of Christ about 
you. I would desire that to-night the work shall 
be begun. Defer not to seek Christ to-night, for 
this night your soul may be required of thee. 
This night you may hear the voice of God saying, 
thus far shalt thou go and no farther. What, 
then, will be the anguish of your heart — how you 
will cry out for the rocks to hide you, and the 
mountains to fall upon you ! But it will be too 
late. Now is the accepted time, and now is the 
day of salvation. O ! come to Jesus. It is a very 



IN THE PULPIT. 297 

delightful thought to me, that sentiment, " Call 
while He is near." How precious the soul that 
trusts in God — to feel that God is near! Do you 
suppose that Daniel would have walked the lions' 
den if he did not believe that God was near him ? 
Unless he had confidence in God would he not 
have prayed earnestly to those who bound him to 
let him go ? and would even have recanted, and 
said that he would no longer worship this God ? 
He knew that the lions were hungry, and he ex- 
pected to have been eaten immediately ; but he 
knew whom he trusted, and had confidence in ; 
and he knew that if he had then passed away 
from earth that he would be passing into glory. 
How good it is for a Christian, when his work is 
done, to go to his rest ! for there is no rest here. 
For myself, when I look upon the world, I am led 
to exclaim, Let me go — why should I tarry here ? 
What has earth to bind me here ? There is noth- 
ing here but pain, and death, and sorrow, and an- 
guish, and grief, and fear. I have gathered the 
brightest flowers ; but I have seen them, after a 
day or two, fade and die. Let me go — it is Jesus 
that calls me. Let me gain the realms of day. 
I pant for the life as the hart panteth for the 
water-brooks. I long for Jesus. I desire to go 
home. Why? Because I shall not only be en- 
abled to say that Jesus is near me, but I shall 

22 



2g8 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

bask in the sunlight of his countenance. Glory 
be to Christ ! What an anticipation there is in 
reserve for a child of God, and yet I sometimes 
feel that I am the very lowest of all God's chil- 
dren ! But, glory be to God, I can do as the 
publican did — I can smite upon my breast and 
cry, " God be merciful to me a sinner." 

"Let the wicked forsake his way." You would 
do well to take the text to heart. You have been 
living as you began, and yet you are without 
hope in the world. If at this moment you were 
called into the presence of God, with terror, 
shrinking, tremblings, and despair, you would cry 
out, Spare, O spare me. But, friends, do not 
procrastinate. Procrastination is the thief of time, 
and I would urge upon the wicked to forsake his 
way. The prophet says, " Let the wicked for- 
sake his way." And I would say to that man 
there, What hinders you to give your heart to the 
Savior ? He would say, " I would do it if it were 
not for the scoffs, the sneers, and the expressions 
of scorn that I should call down upon my head. 
I would hear my companions laugh at me, and I 
should be an outcast from society. The sacrifice 
is too great." But tell me, if to-night death 
should approach you, do you think that those 
whom you now fear could go any further with 
you than the gates of death ? Beyond that would 



IN THE PULPIT. 299 

be — what ? There would be eternal destruction. 
And could you for a moment to-night look down 
into that dismal abode of misery, and ask those 
who have sat with you, "What have you gained 
by leading a life of folly ?" they would cry out, as 
the smoke of their agony would arise, " For God's 
sake, escape this eternal burning." They would 
cry out, as did Dives, the rich man, for you to dip 
your finger in water and touch their parched 
tongues; but this small favor would be denied 
you. How can you, as a reasonable, as a think- 
ing human and immortal being — in God's name 
tell me, friends, how can you tarry longer upon 
the everlasting brink of despair, when we offer 
you a bright home in glory ? By and by they 
shall fold your hands across your lifeless breast, 
and they shall place you beneath the clods, where 
corruption and the worms shall destroy the flesh. 
But in a few brief days the trumpet shall sound, 
and be calling you to appear before the judgment- 
seat of Christ, there to answer for the deeds done 
in the body to-night, and to answer for that long 
catalogue of sins that already blacken the pages 
of the book of life. How are you to answer ? 
How can you answer for a life misspent? How 
can you, with all this code of sin upon you, ex- 
pect to hear Him say, " Come, thou blessed of 
my Father ?" But that Jesus will sit as your 



300 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

Judge, and he calls to-night upon you to forsake 
your evil ways. how I wish I could only in- 
duce you to come to him to-day — at once. I 
wish I could persuade you to forsake that wicked 
way of yours. 

Will you just weigh matters with me to see 
how they will balance? You have to-night eter- 
nal life offered you, without money and without 
price. "If I could only gain it in some possible 
way/' said a gentleman to me, " if I could only 
buy it, I would give all that I was worth/' " But," 
I said to him, " we have no such eternal life to 
offer you. It is to come without money and with- 
out price, and receive it. Will you accept it ?" 
said I. He said he would consider about it. " If 
you do not accept to-night," said I, "you will 
lose your soul for life everlasting ; but, if you 
accept it, you will bear the scorn and the scoffs 
of your companions for a brief moment, and save 
your soul eternally, and have abundant peace for 
evermore. Tell me which you will have." " By 
all means I will have eternal life. I want to en- 
ter heaven, and spend a blissful eternity." "Are 
you willing, then, to take up the cross ?" asked I, 
" separate yourself from the world, and persevere 
in good works, and follow Christ?" "I should 
like to think upon it," replied he, " and I will tell 
you to-morrow." "If you wait till to-morrow, it 



IN THE PULPIT. 301 

will be too late ; you must do it while God says 
it is to-day." I then turned and left him ; but 
as I passed him after a while in the passage, he 
said, "Are you sure it is the last call?" I said, 
" It is the last call." "Then I must seek it now, 
to-night, for I never thought that I was such a 
sinner as I am." 

I hope that every man and woman will seek 
eternal life now, so that if death should come be- 
tween to-night and the morrow, you will be ready 
to enter heaven. If there is any thing that looks 
mean and contemptible, it is for a man to live on 
in his wickedness day after day, until he sees death 
coming, and then turn round and call with all his 
soul, saying, " Lord save me, I perish !" If it 
were not for his infinite mercy he would turn his 
back upon him. But he has received pleas for 
mercy at the last hour. But then how does that 
plea look when the angels raise a cry of praise ? 
It would seem as if such a person would be 
ashamed to join in the anthem. It would seem 
that a person coming into heaven on such a 
prayer as that, at the very last hour, would hang 
down his head in confusion. It seems as if he 
went into heaven with the door just opened wide 
enough to let him in, and no more. Glory be to 
God ! I am looking forward to the call of the 
Savior, when he shall say, " Come up higher." I 



302 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

do not want to feel that the gates of heaven 
should just open wide enough to let me get in, 
though God knows I shall be satisfied to take the 
lowest seat, and feel that it is far more than I de- 
serve. O, glory be to God ! I can ask you to join 
the army of God. Let the unrighteous man for- 
sake his thoughts. You are so given to thoughts, 
and these are an abomination unto the Lord. 
You are invited to forsake your thoughts, and re- 
turn unto the Lord Can you not see in the 
Israelitish camp how they have given themselves 
over to idolatry, and they have made them a 
molten calf, and God sends fiery serpents among 
them, and they are bitten with a poisoned fang ; 
but, as the venom passes through all their veins, 
a proclamation is heard throughout the camp that 
Moses has made another serpent, and that every 
one who looks upon it shall be made whole. But 
one says, It is all nonsense ; I will not look upon 
it. How can a brazen serpent assist me ? But 
he is induced to do so just as the light of life was 
leaving, and he is saved. The Lamb of God has 
power in him to save you, sinner, if you will only 
look. You remember, young man, that, when 
you knelt beside the bed of that sainted mother, 
and she said, " My son, will you meet me in 
heaven?" you promised, "By God's help I will." 
Have you kept that promise ? No ; you are 



IN THE PULPIT. 303 

deeper than ever in your sins. Take your Bible, 
go into your closet, and pray God that he 
will brush out the iniquities which darken the 
page of life, with the blood of Jesus. God, for 
Christ's sake, will answer your prayer. May God 
grant that we all meet in heaven! God bless 
you ! Amen. 





CHAPTER XVII. 



SHALL WOMEN PREACH? 




HE right of women to preach in the 
Church has been, and is still, a question 
of much controversy. There have been 
a great many learned authorities quoted on both 
sides ; but, after a careful investigation, we un- 
hesitatingly give it as our opinion, that tradition, 
the Scriptures, and the weight of learned authori- 
ties, are on the affirmative side of this question. 

In concluding this work it is proper that we 
should devote a chapter to the consideration of 
this important subject. 

That women were degraded by the Old World 
is patent to every historian ; but she was in more 
honor among the Jews than with any other 
nation. 

In the book of Judges, fourth chapter and 
fourth verse, we read : " And Deborah, a prophet- 
ess, the wife of Lapidoth, judged Israel at that 
304 



SHALL WOMEN PREACH? 305 

time, . . . and the children of Israel came 
up to her for judgment." 

She was supreme, both in civil and religious 
affairs. She appointed Barak to a generalship, 
which reveals her power in the State. The 
Divine Spirit rested upon her, and she guided the 
army by the spirit of prophecy. 

Again : In 2 Kings xxii, 14, we read : " Huldah, 
the prophetess, . . . dwelt in Jerusalem, in 
the college, and they communed with her there, 
and she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord 
God of Israel," etc. ; and then follows her proph- 
ecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem. 

"At this time," says Dr. Clarke, u Jeremiah 
was certainly a prophet in Israel, but it is likely 
he now dwelt at Anathoth, and could not be read- 
ily consulted ; Zephaniah also prophesied under 
this reign, but probably he had not yet begun ; 
Hilkiah was high-priest, and the priest's lips 
should retain knowledge. Shaphan was scribe, 
and must have been conversant in sacred affairs 
to have been at all fit for his office : and yet Hul- 
dah, a prophetess, of whom we know nothing but 
by this circumstance, is consulted on the meaning 
of the book of the law ; for the secret of the Lord 
was neither with Hilkiah the high-priest, Shap- 
han the scribe, nor any other of the servants of 
the King, or ministers of the temple ! We find 



306 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

from this, and we have many facts in all ages to 
corroborate it, that a pontiff, a pope, a bishop, or 
a priest, may, in some cases, not possess the true 
knowledge of God ; and that a simple woman, 
possessing the life of God in her soul, may have 
more knowledge of the Divine testimonies than 
many of those whose office it is to explain and 
enforce them." 

Dr. Priestly says : " It pleased God to distin- 
guish several women with the spirit of prophecy, 
as well as other great attainments, to show that 
in his sight, and especially in things of a spirit- 
tial nature, there is no essential pre-eminence in 
the male sex, though in some things the female 
be subject to the male." 

The prophecy of Joel, we think, is conclusive 
on this point : " And it shall come to pass after- 
ward that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ; 
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, 
your old men shall dream dreams, your young 
men shall see visions. And also upon the serv- 
ants and upon the handmaids in those days will I 
pour out my Spirit." Joel ii, 28, 29. 

"Prophesy" says Dr. Clarke, "means shall 
preachy exhort, pray and instruct, so as to benefit 
the Church." " The gifts of teaching and in- 
structing men shall not be restricted to any one 
class or order of people." 



SHALL WOMEN PREACH? 307 

Dr. Clarke says again on this — Acts ii, 1, 7 — 
" The word prophesy is not to be understood here 
as implying the knowledge and discovery of future 
events, but signifies to teach and proclaim the 
great truths of God, especially those which con- 
cerned redemption by Jesus Christ." 

Thus we see, by reference to Acts ii, 18, that 
on these handmaidens the Spirit of God was 
poured out, and as the result they did prophesy, or, 
if you please, " teach and proclaim the great 
truths of God." On this verse Dr. Clarke says : 
" Under the Gospel dispensation, neither bond nor 
free, male nor female, is excluded from sharing in 
the gifts and graces of the Divine Spirit." "He 
is ever free to ?ise his own gifts in his own way, 

. . that we may see the conversion of men 
is not by human might, nor power, but by the 
Spirit of the Lord of hosts." 

As the apostle Paul is so frequently quoted as 
opposed to women's preaching, let us see if there 
is any just ground for such supposed opposition. 
In doing so it will be necessary to examine the 
preceding chapters to the one in which occurs 
the passage, " Let your women keep silence in 
the churches," in order to ascertain his true 
meaning. 

From his first letter to the Corinthians it is 
evident that false teachers had caused great 



3.08 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

trouble in the Church, and into which there had 
crept certain abuses. Of these things he had 
received tidings, and in order to correct them he 
sends the Church a clearly defined order of doc- 
trine and practice. 

In the fifth chapter he gives a scathing rebuke 
to incestuous persons, and closes with a command 
to the Church to put away the offenders from 
among them. 

In chapter vii he treats almost wholly on the 
marriage state. 

In chapter viii, "concerning things offered 
unto idols," and in the ninth chapter he speaks 
of the true liberty which pertained to godliness. 

In chapter xi, 4, 5, we have these words: 
" Every man praying or prophesying, having his 
head covered, dishonoreth his head. But every 
woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head 
uncovered, dishonoreth her head." 

Whatever may be the meaning of praying and 
prophesying in respect to the man, they have 
also the same meaning in respect to the woman. 
So that some women at least, as well as some 
men, might exhort, comfort, and edify. And had 
there not been such gifts bestowed on woman, 
the prophecy of Joel could not have had its ful- 
fillment. 

The only difference marked by the apostle was, 



SHALL WOMEN PREACH? 309 

the man had his head uncovered, and the woman 
had hers covered. 

We read in this same chapter (xi), verse 11 : 
" Nevertheless, neither is the man without the 
woman, neither the woman without the man, in 
the Lord." And, also, we read in Galatians 
hi, 28, " There is neither male nor female ; for ye 
are all one in Christ Jesus." 

Some commentators think that he means that 
men and women equally make a society, and in it 
have equal rights and privileges. 

Concerning the abuses carried on at the sacra- 
ment of the Lord's-Supper, and especially their 
gluttony and drunkenness, he asks most em- 
phatically : 

" What ! have ye not houses to eat and to 
drink in ; or despise ye the Church of God, and 
shame them that have not ? What shall I say to 
you ? Shall I praise you in this ? I praise you 
not." 

Chapter xii opens concerning " spiritual gifts," 
a subject about which they appear to have written 
to the apostle, and concerning which there had 
doubtless been contentions among them. And 
here follows the long list of " diversities of gifts," 
'"wisdom," "knowledge," "faith," " gifts of heal- 
ing," "working of miracles," "prophecy," "dis- 
cerning of spirits," etc. 



3 I O MRS. MA G G1E NE WTON VAN CO TT. 

To them had these precious gifts been given, 
and they were exhorted to " covet earnestly the 
best gifts." 

Chapter xiv opens with directions concerning 
the speaking in unknown tongues. And the 
apostle gives a specific rule in verse 28 : 

" If there be no interpreter, let him keep silence 

in the church," ((Ttydrw 'ev hxlr^ia.) 

Here the command rests upon the man y and 
for a definite purpose. 

Verse 30 reads, " If any thing be revealed to 
another that sitteth by, let the first hold his 
peace," (6 Tipwroq atydzw) This may be applied to 
the whole Church of Corinth, where there had 
been " contentions," as announced in the opening 
chapter, and all the long list of evils that had 
crept in to disturb the Church. Their babel of 
tongues must cease, and he gave command by 
authority. The women also had been in error, 
and to correct them he said to the Church, 

" Let your women keep silence in the churches." 
Verse 34. 

This, says Dr. Lange, may be transJated, " Let 
the women keep silence in your churches" show- 
ing most conclusively that it was to this Church 
alone that the command was given. 

And he continues, concerning the women, " If 
they will learn any thing, let them ask their hus- 



SHALL WOMEN PREACH? 311 

bands at home, for it is a shame for women to 
speak in the church/' where they are guilty of such 
gross misdemeanors as well as the men. 

This verse can not be taken in a general sense, 
for untold numbers of them had no husbands, and 
could never commune of heavenly things " at 
home/' 

Again, the learned apostle was not ignorant of 
the past history of his nation, and the exercise 
of the gift of prophecy that rested upon Miriam, 
Huldah, Naodiah, Deborah, and Anna. And 
besides these in the new dispensation, Philip had 
" four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy." 
Acts xxi, 9. 

" These gifts," says Dr. Alexander, " were to 
servants of both sexes, and to daughters as well 
as sons." 

Thus after twenty years from the ascension of 
Christ, the Spirit of prophecy rested upon the 
daughters of an evangelist, who had been a fol- 
lower of the Lord, and doubtless was numbered 
among the " one hundred and twenty." 

Aquila and Priscilla became famous in the his- 
tory of the early Church. They were natives of 
Pontus, by occupation tent-makers, and received 
the word of truth from Paul, and became his 
helpers in the Gospel. When Apollos came to 
Ephesus, "Aquila and Priscilla . . took him 



312 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN C0T7\ 

unto them, and expounded unto them the way 
of God more perfectly." 

At the time this epistle was written, they were 
still at Ephesus, and sent salutations to " the 
church that was in their house." 

Again, in Romans xvi, i, we read, " I commend 
unto you Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant of 
the church which is at Cenchrea." " Our trans- 
lators have hardly done Phoebe justice in translat- 
ing dtdzovov, servant, and 7zpo(TTdTig, succorer ; for 
the former is the term for deaconess or ministra y 
and the latter is patroness, being radically the 
same word as is rendered i he that rulethl in chap- 
ter xi, 8. The ability and eminence of Phoebe 
appears from the apostle's earnest commendation, 
from these her titles, from her travel and business, 
and, as Renan in his flippant style expresses it, 
1 She bore in the folds of her robe the whole 
future of the Christian theology — the writing 
which was to regulate the fate of the world.' 
When Phoebe brought this great epistle to the 
elders at Rome, it was, doubtless, read in public. 

" She was a lady of wealth, a housekeeper, and 
probably a widow. Hence she was an enter- 
tainer and patroness of her fellow Christians. 

" That Phoebe was not merely a servitor, doing 
menial work, but an official, appears from the 
patronizing character which Paul assigns her. 



SHALL WOMEN PREACffl 313 

Hence, when, no later than A. D. 104, we find 
that Pliny writes that he selected two females 
* who were called (ministrae) ministresses ' for tor- 
ture, to extract information against Christians, 
we see no reason to doubt that we have here the 
apostolic origin- of a female deacoushipr 

" The separation of the sexes might, in Greek 
and Roman sections, require this office, not only 
in regard to temporalities, but in regard to more 
spiritual offices for the female part of the Church. 
The apostolic Church admitted woman's social 
prayer with covered head (see above) ; it admit- 
ted prophetesses (or preacheresses), the four 
daughters of Philip, and it admitted deaconesses." 
Dr. Whedon. 

Concerning Aquila and Priscilla, they again 
appear before the Church, in Rom. xvi, 3 : " Greet 
Priscilla [notice the position] and Aquila, my 
helpers in Christ Jesus : who for my life have 
laid down their own necks : unto whom not only 
I give thanks, but also all the Churches of the 
Gentiles. " 

" yunia — verse 7 — is doubtless the name of a 
female, wife or sister of Andronicus. This 
appears from their names being coupled, like 
Priscilla and Aquila. Tryphena and Tryphosa, 
perhaps, are sisters, or are coupled from the allit- 
eration/' (names nearly alike.) — Dr. Whedon. 

23 



314 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

"It is clear," says Dr. Lange, "that the early 
Church was formed quite as much upon the house- 
hold model as upon that of the synagogue. No 
form of Church government should ignore this, nor 
can Christianity make true progress at the ex- 
pense of the family. As the religion of Jesus 
Christ has sanctified household relations, and ele- 
vated them all, the question then is, how far is the 
Church responsible for the moral decay in social 
lifeT 

" We become best acquainted," continues the 
same author, "with the office of deaconess in 
apostolic times from the Pastoral Epistles. The 
form of the office in the early Church was suc- 
ceeded, in the middle ages, by the religious orders, 
which assumed, besides, a qualified missionary 
function. Recent times have attempted glorious 
things in relation to this office, and have accom- 
plished great results." 

In Mosheim's. Histary of Christianity, vol. i, 
p. 179, we find the following concerning the com- 
position of the early Christian Church : " Every 
Church was composed of three constituent parts : 
1st. Teachers,, who were also interested with the 
government of the community, according to the 
laws ; 2d. Ministers, of each sex ; and 3d. The 
multitude of the people." 

Again* says, this, distinguished historian: "The 



SHALL WOMEN PREACH? 3 IS 

Church had ever belonging to it, even from its 
very first rise, a class of ministers, composed of 
persons of either sex, and who were termed 
deacons and deaconesses!' 

" Christ did not overlook or underestimate the 
agency of woman in the diffusion of the Gospel. 
Women were present in the pentecostal chamber, 
and shared in the pentecostal baptism. Women 
were co-workers with the apostles, in all their 
apostolic labors. 

a A woman preached Christ in Samaria, before 
Philip. 

" The first Christian sermon on the continent of 
Europe was preached in a woman's prayer-meet- 
ing, and the first convert was a woman. (See 
Acts xvi, 13.)"- — Selected. 

The apostolic salutations show how diligently 
women " labored in the Lord/' as "Apphia" " the 
elect lady," and others before mentioned. 

A woman washed the Savior's feet and wiped 
them with her hair. A woman was last at the 
cross and the first at the tomb of the Savior. 
The first messenger of tlie resurrection of Christ 
zvas a woman. 

We, therefore, readily conclude that women 
have the right to preach. 



APPENDIX. 



REMARKS OF THE PRESS. 




T is said- that sculptors, in working out a 
marble bust, if the living subject is not 
before them, require at least sixteen pho- 
tographs, showing, as perfectly as can be, the 
form they are to chisel. 

We are certainly fortunate in possessing a great 
variety of opinions, which have appeared from 
time to time in the press, concerning Mrs. Van 
Cott, and which we here collate. 

Faterson (N. J.) Daily Guardian, July, 1869. 

The Methodists of Patterson have a great povv-wovv to- 
day at the Cross-Street Church, whereat the war-dog, Gen- 
eral Runyon, a crowd of noted itinerants, and the cele- 
brated squaw, the Rev. Mrs. Van Cott, will hold forth. It 
is expected that the devil will be overpowered by this 
demonstration. 

3*7 



3 l8 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

Christian Advocate, April 3, 1 869. 
Female Local Preacher. — Rev. Charles Palmer, 
pastor of the Stone Ridge charge, New York Conference, 
in a note in connection with a revival notice printed else- 
where, writes us: "Mrs. Maggie N. Van Cott is a local 
preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She was 
recommended by a class of over two hundred members, 
and the quarterly conference voted her a license unani- 
mously. Rev. A. H. Ferguson, our presiding elder, gave 
her a preacher's license. She commands universal re- 
spect." 

New York Tribune ', April 13, 1869. 

The Ellenville district (New York Conference) has one 
female anti-local preacher, licensed by the presiding elder 
at the quarterly conference. At this point in the report, 
the Rev. Mr. Nichols rose and expressed his disapproval 
of any presiding elders rising to submit to the Conference 
the question of allowing female preachers. The Rev. Mr. 
M'Canber moved that the Conference disapprove of the 
practice of licensing women to preach. The Rev. Mr. 
King moved that Mr. M'Canber's motion be laid on the 
table, which motion was agreed to. Some feeling was 
manifested during the discussion of the above motions, and 
the enthusiastic member wanted the Conference to discuss 
fully the question of allowing female preachers. The lady 
alluded to is a " Widow Van Cott." She is the only licensed 
female preacher in the State of New York, and during the 
past Winter has created an intense religious excitement 
wherever she has spoken. It is reported that she has con- 
verted nearly two thousand persons during the past year. 
She is represented as being eloquent, and very earnest. 
Some members of the Conference are in favor of hei contin- 
uing in the good work, while others are strongly opposed 
to it. 



REMARKS OF THE PRESS. 3 1 9 

Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle , April 14, 1869. 
The bringing forward of the case of the great female re- 
vivalist, " Widow Van Cott," of the Ellenville district, in 
the New York Conference, at Sing Sing, on Monday, was 
throwing a bomb-shell into the Methodist camp. It will 
be remembered that an attempt was made on Monday to 
force the Conference to vote favorably on a resolution cen- 
suring or disapproving the action of the presiding elder and 
quarterly conference of the Ellenville district, in licensing 
the " Widow Van Cott" to preach. The matter was, how- 
ever, laid on the table, and all supposed that put an end to 
it. Not so, however, for during the balance of the day 
and evening the subject was the chief topic of conversation, 
and all agreed that there would yet be a time over it before 
the Conference adjourned, and there was. It occurred yes- 
terday. At the close of the morning session Rev. L. M. 
Vincent, of Poughkeepsie, rose in his seat, holding in his 
hand a resolution, which the knowing ones gazed at anx- 
iously, till the reverend gentleman commenced reading it, 
the whole Conference listening in breathless silence. The 
resolution condemned the principle of licensing female 
preachers, and declared the action of the quarterly confer- 
ence of the Ellenville district in licensing "Widow Van 
.Cott" as null and void, and Rev. Mr. Vincent moved that 
the resolution be made the special order for three, P. M. 
A general buzz took place, and members mingled together 
in squads, talking hurriedly and low. In vain was an attempt 
made to secure its passage, till considerable discussion 
followed, when, in accordance with Mr. Vincent's views, it 
was set down for action at three, P. M. The Conference 
then adjourned for dinner. All through the noon hour the 
" Widow Van Cott's " position was discussed pro and con, 
so that when three, P. M., arrived, the members of the 
Conference were ready to take a bold stand in the matter, 
the friends of the "Widow" feeling jubilant. When the 
Chair announced the special order, Rev. M. D'C. Craw- 



320 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

ford offered a resolution providing that the whole matter 
be referred to a special committee, to report at the next 
Annual Conference. This was unanimously agreed to. 

Mr. Crawford then offered another resolution, providing 
that the principle involved be suspended, so that no 
licenses shall be granted to females during the year, and 
that the "Widow Van Cott" be denied a license after her 
present one expires. This last resolution opened the battle 
anew — when the friends of the "Widow" determined to 
stand by her, some one of them exclaiming, " I move that 
resolution lie on the table." Then another breeze of ex- 
citement swept over the heads of the members, and mur- 
murs of approbation and disapprobation were heard. 
Finally, the call of " Question ! question!" induced the 
Chair to put the motion laying the resolution on the table, 
when it was agreed to by the close vote of 70 against 60, 
the result showing that the friends of "Widow Van Cott" 
were in the majority. The original motion of Mr. Craw- 
ford, referring the matter to a special committee, to report 
at the next Conference, is in force, and there the case 
rests. Meanwhile the "Widow Van Cott" can proceed 
with her preaching, and the quarterly conference of Ellen- 
ville may renew her license when it expires. 

The Methodist, April '14, 1869. 

The novelty of a woman in the pulpit still continues to 
create a sensation, and to draw crowds in Springfield and 
vicinity. Probably Mrs. Van Cott never addressed so 
august or critical an assembly as on Tuesday evening, 
March 22d. The preachers of the New England Confer- 
ence had just arrived, and, in consideration of her rising 
fame, signal success, and the probability of her being pro- 
posed for admission "as a probationer to the New England 
Conference, they all rushed to Union-Street Methodist 
Episcopal Church to hear her, completely filling the pulpit, 
altar, and spaces thereabout. 



REMARKS OF THE PRESS. 32 1 

She seemed to realize somewhat the peculiar character 
and responsibility of her position, for she stated that she 
was aware that she occupied a place never before occupied 
by woman ; that there were scores there intent upon criti- 
cising, etc. She did not appear, however, to be in the least 
dashed by this circumstance. In fact, her confidence is 
immense ; her boldness of manner is calculated to repel 
sympathy, and put every hearer at once on the seat of 
criticism. Mrs. Van Cott has a magnificent personnel; her 
face naturally is sweet and winning; she dresses with fault- 
less taste — richly, yet with becoming simplicity. Her ap- 
pearance, so queenly and majestic, is every way in her favor. 
She has a voice of great power, but of no compass. She 
expends about four times as much vocal energy as is neces- 
sary. Indeed, a tithe of the voice employed, properly mod- 
ulated, would produce far greater effects. The shock pro- 
duced upon a stranger by the high key in which she pitches 
her voice, and by the loud, harsh notes with which she an- 
nounces her hymn, is sufficiently unpleasant. This, taken 
in connection with the unnatural intonations, and the 
theatrical, sensational manner in which her hymn is re- 
cited — shouted out, we should say — has the effect, natu- 
rally, of prejudicing the hearer against her from the start. 
Think of a preacher of the male gender, for example, rising 
in the pulpit, and with closed eyes, uplifted chin, vigor- 
ous gesticulations, with apparently affected sanctimonious 
tones, and with manifold and loud ejaculations, declaiming 
his hymn ! What would be thought of him ? And yet this 
is the style of this lady, who seems to be captivating so 
many hearts at present, and who seems to have been really 
useful, as she is, no doubt, in her way, earnest and devoted. 

Her discourse was introduced by a preliminary talk, in 
part addressed to Deity, in part to the audience — the two 
alternating several times, and both characterized by a very 
offensive familiarity. 

Her sermon proper was based upon the words : " The 



322 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." This, she said, 
she took for her starting-point. She did n't pretend to 
sermonize, couldn't if she would, and wouldn't if she 
could. She was true to her prospectus. We heard but 
little of the text after she once left it, except by way of 
winding up, or rounding off a sentence now and then. Her 
sermon — if sermon it could be called — consisted entirely 
of rhapsody and exhortation. It contained no word of in- 
struction, nothing that could be called a line of thought ; 
not one passage of power, either intellectually or rhetor- 
ically ; not one glowing original figure or illustration ; 
nothing to mark the speaker as a person of any thing more 
than ordinary talent, and that by no means cultivated or 
disciplined. 

While listening to her, I could not but say, "O that she 
were gentle, graceful, womanly ! O that she had the ability 
of many women now on the lecture-platform, or who write 
for the press ! How she might inthrall this great congre- 
gation, and win her way over the prejudices of the people 
into the Conference, and thus leave the door open for 
woman forever !" Yet it can not be denied she has done 
good. She has done something more than create a sensa- 
tion. She has stirred several communities to their depths, 
and doubtless brought many souls to Christ. 

The World, May 9, 1869. 

The Female Wesley. — In these degenerate days, 
when the pulpit has become a soft cushion from whence 
elegant and orthodox insipidities are uttered in such a ten- 
der manner that the ears of the most inveterate sinner 
may not be harshly offended, it must be a relief to the 
godly Christian to find a woman taking the mantle of 
Whitefield and Wesley upon her shoulders and going forth 
into the world to expound a Gospel which is ever new and 
full of stern and unbending morality. Of the many thou- 
sand readers of The World who are religiously inclined, 



REMARKS OF THE PRESS. 323 

not a few have already heard of the " Widow Van Cott," a 
lady who, by her earnest efforts in missionary work, and 
the power of her eloquent tongue, has created an unprece- 
dented sensation in the counties of this State bordering on 
the Hudson River, in which her silvery tongue has hushed 
the unrepentant and encouraged those who have sought 
for the road to the New Jerusalem. 

During the month of May, 1866, the good women and 
honest men who had occasion to visit the Five Points Mis- 
sion-House, in this city, were attracted by the appearance 
of a tall, well-proportioned lady, with a fair skin, gushing 
blue eyes, voluminous dark hair, and an easy and engaging 
carriage, who was seen every-where among the wretched 
and destitute snvinor words of comfort and solace to all who 
were in need of them. Especially was this lady kind to the 
negro children who abounded in the slums of the Sixth 
Ward. And the denizens of Hell-fire Court and Thunder- 
er's alley, meet with no harsh words from the "Widow 
Van Cott," for such was the lady's name, now famous as 
that of an eloquent female preacher. But new at the work, 
Mrs. Van Cott had, in her manner, a charming diffidence 
and a womanly modesty that made her all the more con- 
vincing when she became interested in a* spiritual argu- 
ment. All those who remember those happy evenings in 
May, 1866, at the Mission-House, can not fail to recollect 
the clear bell-like notes of the widow, and her mobility of 
features, the gestures of her small white hands (she wears 
six and a half kids), and the lightning of her grayish blue 
eyes, all alive with fire and feeling. In all things she was 
most unlike the conventional class-warden or Methodist 
exhorter, known to all our readers. There was the dra- 
matic fire of the true and natural actress who rose out of 
herself and identified her individuality with that of a char- 
acter for the moment assumed. And yet this woman had 
none of the unpleasant gestures or worldly vanities that are 
almost indissoluble from the animated person of an actress. 



324 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

Netv York Times, May 17, 1869. 

A meeting of Methodist ministers was held yesterday 
forenoon at No. 200 Mulberry-street, to discuss the ques- 
tion : " Ought women to receive licenses as local preachers 
or exhorters ?" There was a large attendance. Rev. B. M. 
Adams took the chair, and Rev. A. M'Lean acted as sec- 
retary. 

Rev. Mr. Shaffer, of the Five Points Mission, said he 
desired to make a few unpremeditated remarks relative to 
this question. It seemed to him either that there was in 
the subject something which had hitherto been hidden from 
the eyes of the Church, or that the Church was making a 
very decided retrograde motion. Mr. King, he thought, 
had not advanced any arguments that could be reckoned 
conclusive on the subject. That God gave to women abil- 
ity and intelligence in argument and persuasion, no one 
could doubt ; and that they are very much more advanced 
in religious emotions than men are, could hardly be a sub- 
ject of doubt. It could hardly be doubted, also, that their 
field of influence in the Church was capable of being 
greatly extended. Though the apostles had co-laborers 
taken from the female section of the Church, and though 
some very remarkable women labored successfully at 
different periods of its history, yet this fact should not be 
forgotten, that when Jesus called his apostles and gave 
them their commissions, there were no women among them. 
He would have very much liked if brother King had taken 
up the great underlying principle on which the entire con- 
stitution of the ministry was based. He could not well 
see what the case of Mrs. Crosby, who had been mentioned, 
had to do with the discussion ; but he would say that in 
Everitt's life of Dr. Clarke, it would be found that the Irish 
Conference went so far as to expel Mrs. Crosby, because 
she would not come to order, and would insist upon 
preaching. 

Rev. Mr. Davies said that when he heard the name of 



REMARKS 9F THE PRESS. '32$ 

Dr. Clarke mentioned, he felt sensitive, because he knew 
something of the sentiments of Dr. Clarke, and only wished 
he had the opportunity to present his (Dr. Clarke's) views 
and those of the early Methodists more fully. He had the 
pleasure of hearing Dr. Clarke preach, and he (Dr. Clarke) 
said that in the passage wherein it is mentioned that Anna, 
when she saw the Savior in the flesh, went out and pro- 
claimed the fact in Jerusalem — the word Jerusalem ought 
to be understood Israel — and if she went out to Israel 
preaching the Savior, she must have been an itinerant 
preacher. To do justice to Dr. Clarke more fully, he 
would read an extract from his Commentary », to the effect 
that Anna was not properly a prophetess, but rather a holy 
woman experienced in divine things, who went about from 
house to house proclaiming the advent of Christ. 

A member here remarked that it was not said she went 
from temple to temple. 

Rev. Mr. Davies continued, that in the early history of 
Methodism, there were several instances of women travel- 
ing and preaching, and the practice was approved by Wes- 
ley and others. He proceeded to cite several instances of 
female preachers in former days, and others more recently 
whom he had known himself. 

Rev. Dr. Foster felt profoundly afflicted that the ques- 
tion had been entertained at all. He did not believe it 
worthy of grave discussion. He believed there were only a 
few hallucinated men who could entertain it, and they should 
not be allowed to monopolize the time of the meeting. 

Rev. L. H. King objected to being stigmatized by brother 
Foster as a " hallucinated " man. He also said that he 
had on the preceding day seen the lady (Mrs. Van Cott), 
who had been seeking admission to the pulpit, and that he 
had been thinking of allowing her the use of his church. 

Another member remarked that the official board of the 
Duane-Street Methodist Church had given this lady an 
invitation to preach in their church on Sunday next ; he 



326 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

was understood to express his concurrence with the action 
of the board. 

Rev. Dr. Ferris rose to ask, while the license of this lady 
was in abeyance, whether it was well for the official board 
of a church in this city to invite her to their pulpit ? If 
this woman preached, crowds would throng to hear her 
from curiosity, and congregations would be drawn away 
from their own proper churches. 

Rev. Dr. Crawford thought it was the duty of those who 
are squarely opposed to this measure of licensing women 
as preachers to discuss it to the bottom. He considered it 
a grave question, one worthy of discussion, and one which 
should not be set aside or laughed away. 

Rev. Dr. Durbin asserted that if the established practice 
of the Church were against licensing women preachers, 
the onus of discussion should lie on those who were in 
favor of it. 

At this point the meeting adjourned. 

The Independent, May 27, 1869. 
Mrs. Maggie Van Cott, a duly licensed Methodist local 
minister, preached last Sunday evening in the Methodist 
Church in Hudson-street, near Spring, to a crowded con- 
gregation. We hear, with pleasure, that her sermon was 
excellent in matter and manner, and made a deep impres- 
sion upon those who heard it. Who shall dare forbid a 
Christian woman to preach the Gospel of Christ ? 

Harper's Bazar, May 29, 1869. 

The widow Van Cott, who is just now the topic of talk 
in Ulster and Dutchess counties, and who is the only 
woman preacher that has been regularly licensed in this 
region by the Methodist Church, is reported to be a per- 
son possessing very superior power as a preacheress, and 
that her efforts have been attended with the best results. 
In person Mrs. Van Cott is considerably above the middle 
height, and very stout, weighing over two hundred pounds. 



REMARKS OF THE PRESS. 327 

She dresses plainly, in black ; her manners in private are 
quiet and unassuming, revealing little of the power latent 
in her. Her countenance, when at rest, is heavy, but in 
the excitement of oratory, her kindling eye exercises a 
magnetic influence over her audience. Like most revival- 
ists, she is more declamatory than argumentative, appeal- 
ing more to the passions than the reason. Her articulation 
is distinct and easily heard in any part of the church (we 
had almost said village), and her style being varied does 
not fatigue the hearer. At times she amuses the fancy 
with familiar talk, rilled with flowery imagery, fixing the 
attention and winning the confidence of her hearers, till 
rising with her theme, she rushes on with the excitement 
of inspiration, breaking down the fortifications of the un- 
godly and carrying their works by storm. She is not an 
educated woman, in the strict sense, and her influence, as a 
consequence, is chiefly felt among her own class. She is 
gifted with a very remarkable flow, of language, her ges- 
tures are graceful, and her general style would give rise to 
the remark that she must have derived her ideas of public 
speaking from dramatic performers. Her powers of endur- 
ance are very remarkable, speaking nearly three hours 
every evening through the week, and twice on Sundays. 
She has already been instrumental in converting sixty 
persons at Madalin, and upward of two thousand in the 
Prattsville district, and has the promise of a long career 
of usefulness before her. 

Daily Union [Sprmgfield y Mass.), Januarys 1870. 

This lady is a marvel, considering her power of physical 
endurance. How she can hold three or four meetings 
daily, as she has done almost without interruption for the 
last three years, and not break down, is a wonder ; and yet 
she says she never feels tired. Her voice has been some- 
what affected by this continuous labor, but otherwise she 
shows no signs of failure. Since she began preaching and 



328 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

holding these revival meetings, about three years ago, 
there have not been over ten days that she has not spoken. 

Summer and Winter she has been in the work, one of the 
most extensive revivals she has been engaged in occurring 
in the months of July and August, and that, too, in a farm- 
ing community. She has been entreated by many pro- 
fessed friends to quit preaching, and use her dramatic 
powers in reading or lecturing, which would return her a 
larger income in the way of money than she now receives ; 
but her face is steadfastly set for Jerusalem, and no argu- 
ment will induce her to relinquish her calling for money. 
She is a deeply devoted woman, and very likely were she 
to change her business, she would lose the power she now 
possesses over the people. 

The evangelist sets no price on her labor, but accepts 
calls where she thinks she can do the most good, without 
reference to their ability to pay her more than her board; 
yet she is a poor woman, and is depending on what is con- 
tributed for her support. 

Boston Traveler, February 7, 1870. 

In the course of her remarks at Chelsea, Mass., she said 
that God had answered her prayers in bringing to the altar 
not only two hundred but four hundred souls, and closed 
her sermon with an earnest appeal to all to come to Christ. 
At the close the usual prayer-meeting followed, the large 
congregation remaining, and the altar was thronged with 
those seeking the Savior, mostly young people. 

The congregational singing was a feature worthy of 
notice, for it seemed as if every body sung. 

The church was very tastefully decorated with ever- 
greens, and several choice bouquets spread their fragrance 
around the altar. 

Mrs. Van Cott goes from Chelsea to Rockport, carrying 
with her the kind wishes of many who have been benefited 
by her labors in this city. 



REMARKS OF THE PRESS. 329 

Springfield Republican^ March 7, 1 870. 

The Methodist Revivals. — StiU the revival continues, 
here and hereabouts, with* all its original vigor and gratify- 
ing results. The Union-Street Methodists have not slack- 
ened their efforts since the departure of the Troy Praying 
Band, last week, but have held meetings, afternoon and 
evening. They have feeen well attended, and many con- 
versions have occurred. Saturday evening's services were 
interesting, and it would be difficult to teH whether that or 
Sunday's meetings were marked by most power. Meet- 
ings will be held every evening this week, as also on Tues- 
day, and probably on some subsequent, afternoons. The 
services, yesterday, were conducted by our local evangel- 
ists, organized after the fashion of the Trojans, and called 
the " Wesleyan Band." Some of them will be present at 
the meetings this week. 

Mrs. Van Cott preached for the Trinity Methodists, yes- 
terday. Her morning discourse, from Isaiah xxvi, 3, 4, 
was on trusting in God, and the speaker dwelt on the im- 
portance of faith when trials and temptations eome, and 
when the soul is burdened with bereavement. The ser- 
mon also very appropriately scathed backsliders. The 
meeting in the evening was largely attended, every foot of 
sitting and standing room being occupied. Eloquent ex- 
hortations were made by Prof. ^Rice, of Middletown, Mrs. 
Van Cott, and others, and many penitents came for- 
ward to the altar. The occasion seemed a renewal of the 
old revival, and meetings will be held at the church this 
week. 

The meeting at the Central Methodist Church, last even- 
ing, was one of remarkable interest. 'Rev. Dr. Cooke, the 
pastor, was aided in its conduct by the Praying Band of 
Wilbraham Academy, of which he is principal. They are 
six young men of talent, and great devotion to the cause 
of religion, and the exercises were full of profit, and many 

24 



330 MA'S. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

in the congregation were awakened, while some rose for 
prayer. The band will carry on the services this evening. 

The Herald, of Boston, March 10, 1870. 
Wilbraham, Mass.— On the 17th of last month sister 
Van Cott arrived among us,, and commenced a series of 
services. The power of the Holy Ghost rested upon her. 
The cry of the Philippian jailer was soon heard in our 
midst, and night after night the altar was thronged by 
scores and hundreds of souls, mourning on account of 
their sins. The whole community was shaken to the cen- 
ter. In the halls of our Academy were seen the faithful 
disciples of Christ, pointing the sin-sick soul to the Lamb 
of God. The professors of the school threw themselves 
into the work with a zeal and fervor worthy of their Mas- 
ter. Salvation seemed literally to Mow through our streets 
like a river. On all sides was heaud the cry of the peni- 
tent and the shout of the pardoned. Never had Wilbra- 
ham witnessed such a scene as this. On Thursday, the 
24th, the school exercises were suspended, and all attended 
church. It was a high day in Israel. To God be all the 
glory. That afternoon sister Van Coit had to leave us, and 
many in the last great day shall rise up and call her 
blessed for the work done in Wilbraham. May many of 
her sex follow in her footsteps ? The work is still going on, 
and we are hoping that before the dose of the term the 
very few that have so far held ont in their sins may be 
brought into the fold of Christ. Let God's people but 
pray in faith, and the work shall be done. 

New York Sunday H*rald Y Marsk 13, 1870. 

Widow Van Cott, the distinguished female revivalist of 

the Methodist Church, has been laboring in Massachusetts 

for a few weeks, and on Thursday gave the result of her 

work in a sermon at Springfield. She has now commenced 



REMARKS OF THE PRESS. 33 I 

a series of meetings ill Springfield, and threatens a shak- 
ing of the dry bones in that ungodly city. 

Heathen Woman's Friend, April 9, 1870. 
Her exercises are every-where spoken of in terms of 
highest praise, and, so far as we can learn, her labors have 
proved a blessing to the Churches. Who shall dare dic- 
tate to Jehovah by whom he shall send? Let her come, 
and God give her souls for her hire. 

Ziorts Herald, April 14, 1870. 

Rev. David Sherman, presiding elder of Lynn district, 
lately described Rev. Mrs. Van Cott in The Central Advo- 
cate. He. had the honor, as presiding elder of Springfield 
district, of having her recommendation to admission to 
Conference passed by a quarterly conference over which 
he presided. He knows her well, and his testimony to her 
character and abilities is valuable. ■ 

"Mrs. Van Cott is a very remarkable woman, the her- 
ald, as I judge, of a new dispensation in the Church. 
With a commanding presence, a large figure, well formed, 
and a countenance rotund and rubicund, expressive of an 
exuberance of good feeling, she joins some remarkable 
mental traits. The hale and joyous spirit beaming on her 
countenance diffuses itself at once through the audience as 
she rises to speak. Like a woman, she speaks from the 
heart, and, by means of a vivid imagination, pictures before 
the audience the scenes she wishes to present, and then, 
with the happiest tact, gives point to her lessons so as to 
lead men to Christ. With a peculiar combination of mod- 
esty and calmness, she stands before the audience self- 
possessed, and like a skillful player on an instrument, 
ready to evoke any tune she may choose. Like all great 
leaders of men, she has the power of attaching to her, as 
with 'hooks of steel,' whole troops of people. She has 
many of the qualities that distinguish Henry Ward 



3 $ 2 MA'S. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

Beecher — bold, imaginative, electrical, often carrying an 
audience into the wildest enthusiasm by a single dash of 
her wand. With a tact to meet all emergencies, she ex- 
hibits inexhaustible resources in her line. Having been 
operating in this vicinity for six months, her enduring pop- 
ularity is evinced by the fact that several Churches ask for 
her as their pastor. 

"Through the agency of this woman extensive revivals 
are prevailing in many of our charges. Her enthusiasm 
has touched not only the people, but the preachers, and 
she has set them at work in many places where she has 
not been present in person." 

Greenfield Gazette, {Mass.,) June 6, 1870. 

Mrs. Maggie Van Cott is doing wonders at the Methodist 
Church. The house is crowded every night. Many have 
already been hopefully converted, and many more are anx- 
ious seekers after truth. Noon prayer-meetings are daily 
held and well attended. Maggie seems to have a holy mis- 
sion to fulfill, and by the grace of God she will accomplish 
it. All denominations are interested in her preaching. 

Mcriden Daily Refubliean, December % 1S70. 
Within a few years a new sphere of labor has been 
entered into by woman, and, though the numbers are still 
small, there is a fair promise of increase. As preachers of 
the Gospel women have not been surpassed in the success 
attending their labors, and when it was announced that 
Mis. Van Cott, whose name is familiar to many, would be 
in North Manchester for a week or more, commend nsr 
September 3d, I determined to avail myself of this oppor- 
tunity and listen to her preaching. I carried this determi- 
nation into execution, and after having listened to nearly 
every one of her sermons. I can but say that she is a 
mighty woman in the work she is doing, and with her 
powerful presentation of the truth she makes the Gospel 



REMARKS OF THE PRESS. 333 

simple to all. Her sermons have been for the rich and 
poor, the learned and ignorant, and in this very simplicity 
of power lies her success. On the first Sabbath of her 
stay the church was filled with many who were prejudiced, 
as well as curious, but of this number all who have heard 
her the second and third time have had all their prejudice 
overcome. Imagine before you a noble-looking woman of 
about forty years, stately in form, commanding in appear- 
ance, with a sweet, intellectual face, and you have before 
you in outline Mrs. Van Cott. For several years she has 
been preaching here, there, and every-where, and the 
amount of good she has accomplished is incalculable. 

We have not the liberty to criticise this class of public 
speakers, even if we had the disposition, which we have 
not. Surely our world is bad enough ; so that if good can 
be done through any instrumentality we should hold our 
peace. Be it man or woman that benefits the human race 
by teaching them how to do better, it matters not; they 
should receive the reverence and respect of all. There 
have been men here this week — ministers of the Gospel, 
some of them — and there have been women, too, who have 
almost sneered at these efforts to do good and benefit a 
town filled and running over with wickedness, simply be- 
cause these efforts were being put forth by a woman. Of 
all persons, ministers should close their mouths, for they 
would do well to place her before them as an example in 
some respects, and strive to imitate her earnest, devoted 
Christian spirit. Although but a weak woman, think of the 
labor she performs and the toil that is hers. Until the first 
of next May she is engaged to preach, and her preaching 
means three sermons each Sabbath and three prayer-meet- 
ings, while during the week she preaches nightly, after hav- 
ing conducted an afternoon meeting. What would some of 
our ministers, who can scarcely drag themselves through two 
sermons a week, think if such a life was placed before them ? 

Her labors have been quite successful here, twenty join- 



334 M RS - MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

ing the Church on probation Sunday night. It was hoped 
that she could remain another week, but it was found 
impossible to bring the arrangement about. Her sermons 
have been very powerful, if not so metaphysical, as she 
does not believe in this style of sermons, for she told her 
congregation Friday night that "the Holy Ghost was all 
studied out of them," which statement we have often felt 
to be true. The people have been much pleased with her 
labors, and wherever she goes kind wishes and earnest 
prayers will follow her, that success may attend her efforts, 
and her mission be accomplished. 

Fond du Lac {Wisconsin) Daily Commonzvealth^ March 4, 187 1. 
Truly, if John Wesley was the father of Methodism, Mrs. 
Van Cott must be entitled to the name of mother of Meth- 
odism. Licensed to preach just one hundred years after 
the foundation of the first Methodist Church by John Wes- 
ley, she goes from place to place telling of a risen Savior, 
and, with all the earnestness and eloquence of one inspired 
with love and faith, she calls sinners to repentance ; tells 
them of a wondrous happiness ; opens before them fields 
of sweet rest and peace that shows them how little what 
they have is worth compared to what they might have by 
simply answering the Savior's call ; places their duty before 
them so plainly, so clearly, that hundreds stand stricken 
with regret as they are led to see what ground they are on ; 
entreats them to enter a path where Divine love is ever 
around them, wrapping them like a mantle in folds so warm 
and blessed that no cold blast from the world is able to chill 
the heart ; where, when sickness and sorrow come, there 
is always a Friend to cheer and sustain, a Friend on whose 
bosom the weary, faithful heart finds rest ; a path that leads 
straight on, never turning to the right nor left, never leading 
to or near the least wrong-doing ; a path that is narrow but 
straight ; a path that grows brighter and brighter, until it is 
lost in glory — all this does Mrs. Van Cott strive to impress 



REMARKS OF THE PRESS. 335 

on those who come within the sound of her voice. And 
not by words alone does she teach. Her life is a constant 
ksson. One smile is a sermon ; one word awakens a longing 
to drink with her at the ever-flowing fountain of God's love. 
All one can say is that it is wonderful. Her love for the 
Father and his work, her great faith, her perfect reliance on 
the Savior, the love she receives from those around her, the 
love she gives, all are wonderful. Not satisfied merely with 
the conversion of a soul, she teaches it the onward way, 
shows it the perils that lie in advance and how they are to 
be avoided, and sets it to work for God; and so success- 
fully does she do this that backsliders are few among those 
who have found the light and the way under her teaching. 

Chicago Eveni)ig Journal, March 7, 1 87 1. 
The Methodist Church in America dates from the year 
1766, and owes its .origin very much to the pious labors, 
in New York city, of Mrs. Barbara Heck, by whose influ- 
ence Philip Embury, a backslidden Wesleyan Methodist 
preacher, was reclaimed, and became the founder of the 
first Methodist Church in this country. One hundred 
years have passed, and near the same spot another 
woman, Mrs. Maggie Van Cott, filled with the same spirit 
of consecration to the work that actuated Mrs. Heck, has 
been called to preach the everlasting Gospel. Mrs. Van 
Cott is a remarkable woman, of almost superhuman pow- 
ers of endurance, a clear, strong voice, lively imagination, 
ready flow of language, will-power enough for a general, 
and deeply in earnest. Her sermons are somewhat text- 
ual, abounding with Biblical illustrations and clear, strong 
argument. 

North- Western Advocate, (Chicago,) March 15, 187 1. 
Mrs. Margaret Van Cott, the successful Methodist lady 
evangelist, came West and began her work at Fond du 
Lac, Wisconsin, early in January. She was very successful, 



336 MRS. MAG GTE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

and in that city about six hundred have been brought to 
Christ. She more recently began work in Oshkosh, where 
one hundred and eight sought Christ during her stay. 

Mrs. Van Cott, by special invitation of Rev. W. H. Dan- 
iels, pastor, spoke in Clark-Street Methodist Church, on 
Tuesday evening, 7th inst. A very large audience was 
present when she entered the pulpit. She did not come to 
preach, nor, in the usual sense, to lecture ; but she was 
asked to speak of her revival experience, with the under- 
standing that at the close a collection would be taken up 
for the benefit of the Clark-Street Church Mission Band. 

The speaker was at a disadvantage, for in spite of her 
own self, and in spite of the audience's self, the lady was 
on exhibition, and of course she was conscious, and the 
audience knew she was conscious, for it was itself con- 
scious. Her very theme gave her address a flavor of ego- 
tism, but her own experience in revivals made it impossible 
to conceal Mrs. Van Cott. The subject-matter was inter- 
esting, for all human experience is so, and doubly so when 
it is experience in sacred things. Yet the speaker did not 
rise above commonplace, and probably she did not expect 
to do so. Her elocution is, in a word, superb. Punshon 
is remarkable for the physical something that all along sus- 
tains him in his elocutionary efforts. He begins rapidly, 
increases in speed, runs like a stream at his own good 
pleasure, and seems at the end of two hours to be all ready 
for another start. Mrs. Van Cott has this wonderful vocal 
something, and we never listened to any body who seemed 
to have the power to do the utmost possible justice to his 
or her ideas. If an audience is not carried by storm, the 
speaker, and not his vocal apparatus, or gesture, enthusi- 
asm, or general carriage, is responsible. 

" Do we indorse her?" God has in these latter days 
myriads of tongues, and sex no more bounds the charmed 
circle of apostleship than does the "succession" which 
unfrocks all Methodist preachers. We are dumb in the 



REMARKS OF THE PRESS. 337 

presence of the fact that hundreds come to Christ when 
she calls, and to obtain this power over men in the name 
of God many a man would be willing to become a woman, 
if that were necessary. We do not believe that piety is the 
only qualification for the ministry, for that would leave the 
pews in a sorry condition. All good people may witness 
for him, and we are glad that the testimony of Mrs. Van 
Cott is making so many converts. The questions of her 
relations to our ministry, whether she is to be admitted to 
Conference, or whether she is to be ordained, are matters 
to be decided by those to whom application is made, but 
whether she can win souls to the Cross is beyond all 
question. 

The Watchman^ {London,) April 19, 1871, 
Mrs. Van Cott is the first woman licensed to preach in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Window says "she 
has demonstrated the right of woman to call sinners to 
repentance, feels that she has her rights, and seeks no 
other." Among the converts, while there are many poor, 
there are also merchants, editors, and retired gentlemen, 
with their families. The young converts have been formed 
into male and female praying bands, who carry on the work 
in various parts of the city in private houses and in other 
churches. 

Methodist Home Journal, {Philadelphia,) May 27, 1871. 

The shadow of the coming woman is pretty thoroughly 
projected across our little commonwealth. In the Church 
she has been personated by Mrs. Van Cott, and has kept 
up a fire all along the line in private circles, conventions, 
and papers. 

The Boston Preachers' Meeting has been trying to settle 
the question whether or not she should be ordained, and in 
the vain endeavor has expended a great deal of incoherent 
talk. This problem, like that of perpetual motion, does 
not seem to be easy to solve. A step in advance, how- 



333 MRS. MAGGIE NEWTON VAN COTT. 

ever, is taken in the admission on all hands that she may 
be licensed to preach. And if allowed to preach the Gos- 
pel, why not also allowed to take orders ? The greater, 
logicians tell us, includes the less, and it will certainly be 
admitted that preaching is greater than the breaking of a 
little bread or the performance of the marriage ceremony. 
But some one says she is the weaker vessel, and is there- 
fore unfit to be ordained. Weakness disqualifies for some 
things. If woman be weak, it may not be proper to set 
her at a work too hard for her, as the rolling of rocks or 
the mounting of cannon, but not to do what is specified in 
the ordination parchments. She must not govern, says 
another. Ordination confers no right to govern. Govern- 
ment in our Church inheres in many parties — the steward, 
the class-leader, the trustee — and by our new order of 
things under the reign of lay delegation any layman whom 
the Church may select takes part in the government of the 
Church. Our prejudices are all opposed to female preach- 
ing, but the moment we undertake to put them in the form 
of argument we feel how weak they are. Every evil re- 
veals itself to our consciousness in this way. Slavery grew 
up among us, and interest and prejudice defended it, but 
argument shattered this flimsy defense the moment it was 
put in the form of syllogisms. The same is true in the 
case of woman. Nearly all our laws are based on a usage 
that will not bear the test of argument. 

Boston Chronicle, May 28, 1 87 1. 
Probably there are few persons in the world who can 
stand, talk, pray, sing, and travel as many hours for years 
in succession as she can. She is thoroughly in earnest — 
expects, insists on success. In doctrine she keeps within 
the limits of the Methodist standards, and makes terrible 
and effective assaults on the conscience. Her persistent, 
tireless appeals, and public personal pleadings even, are 
doubtless the chief secret of success. 



REMARKS OF THE PRESS, 339 

We have not given a tithe of the printed 
" opinions " in our possession, but these must 
suffice. But few persons have been called to 
endure the " strictures," "puffs," and laudations 
of the press so often in five years. 




i I 



